Speckled Piculet Picumnus innominatus Scientific name definitions

9–10·5 cm; 9–13·2 g. Male has rufous-orange to yellow forehead barred or spotted black, yellowish-white lores; broad black stripe from eye backwards, bordered by white stripes, black malar stripe with white feather fringes; olive-green crown, bright olive-green upperparts; upperwing and coverts brownish-black with greenish or yellow-green edges; black uppertail, inner webs of central feather pair and subterminal patches of outer two pairs white; dull white chin and throat, yellowish lower throat usually with few black spots; remaining underparts white to pale yellowish-white with black spots, flanks more barred, belly and central undertail-coverts usually unmarked; underwing grey, coverts tinged yellow and spotted black; bill short, culmen slightly curved, black or bluish-black; iris brown, blue-grey orbital skin; legs blue-grey. Female as male, but forehead olive-green. Juvenile as female, but plumage duller, bill paler. Race malayorum is slightly smaller and duller, with darker, greyer crown, heavier spotting below; chinensis is slightly larger, with cinnamon-brown crown and upper mantle, black facial markings brown-tinged, whiter lores, coarser markings below.

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Editor's Note: Additional distribution information for this taxon can be found in the 'Subspecies' article above. In the future we will develop a range-wide distribution article.

Deciduous and mixed deciduous forest, evergreen tropical montane forest, also open second growth, particularly where bamboo present. Mostly in foothills or lower hills, locally higher or lower: 900–1830 m in Nepal and Sikkim, up to 2400 m in NE India and to 3000 m in NW Hima­layas; c. 900–1400 m in Peninsular Malaysia; down to 100 m, and even to sea-level, in Sumatra and Borneo.

Resident.

Diet consists of insects and their larvae, especially ants, but also geometrid caterpillars, weevils (Curculionidae) and longhorn beetles (Cerambycidae); also takes spiders and their eggs. Hunts singly or in pairs; often present in mixed-species flocks, though in general only outside breeding season. Forages in undergrowth, on trunk and branches of small trees, and in bushes, vines and bamboo; frequently hangs upside-down, and moves along thin vertical twigs; often concentrates on one spot for several minutes, pecking and hammering vigorously; presence often revealed by loud persistent tapping. Also hovers to catch prey, or pursues flushed prey to take it on the wing.

Jan–May. Male displays by circling around mate and pursuing her around branch. Nest excavated by both sexes, at 1–5 m, occasionally as low as 0·3 m, in dead branch or small tree, or bamboo, occasionally in palm fronds; hole entrance c. 2·5 cm across. Clutch 2–4 eggs; both parents incubate, period 11 days; both also feed nestlings, which fledge after 11 days; young disperse soon after leaving nest.

Not globally threatened. Common or fairly common throughout much of range; generally uncommon in peninsular India; uncommon in China. Has been considered local and very rare in most of NW part of range, but recent observations in N Pakistan suggest small population at low density in Margalla Hills and other sightings there indicate that species is probably uncommon to scarce, and possibly overlooked. Status in Borneo uncertain; specimens known only from N Sabah, but this species may possibly be present elsewhere. Occurs in several protected areas within its range, including Thattakad Bird Sanctuary in Kerala and Namdapha National Park in Arunachal Pradesh (India), and Nam Nao and Doi Inthanon National Parks (Thailand).