The bar-breasted piculet (Picumnus aurifrons) is a species of bird in subfamily Picumninae of the woodpecker family Picidae. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, and Peru.
Taxonomy and systematics
The bar-breasted piculet has seven subspecies:
P. a. aurifrons Pelzeln, 1870
P. a. transfasciatus Hellmayr & Gyldenstolpe, 1937
P. a. borbae Pelzeln, 1870
P. a. wallacii Hargitt, 1889
P. a. purusianus Todd, 1946
P. a. flavifrons Hargitt, 1889
P. a. juruanus Gyldenstolpe, 1941
Subspecies P. a. borbae and P. a. wallacii have at times been treated as individual species, with P. a. juruanus as a subspecies of borbae.
Description
The bar-breasted piculet is the smallest extant species in the highly diverse woodpecker family. A typical adult is about 7.5 cm (3.0 in) long and weighs 8 to 10 g (0.28 to 0.35 oz). Males average 9.2 g (0.32 oz) and females 8.6 g (0.30 oz). Among standard measurements, their wing chord is 4.4 to 5.3 cm (1.7 to 2.1 in), their tail 2.3 to 2.6 cm (0.91 to 1.02 in), their beak 0.9 to 1.2 cm (0.35 to 0.47 in), and their tarsus 1.1 to 1.2 cm (0.43 to 0.47 in). Adult males of the nominate subspecies P. a. aurifrons have a black crown with yellow streaks on the forehead and white spots on the rest, and gray-brown cheeks with a whitish line behind the eye. Their upperparts are olive green. The upper surface of their tail is black; the innermost pair of feathers have whitish yellow inner webs and the outer two pairs have a whitish patch near the end. Their chin and throat are whitish with faint dark barring. Their underparts are yellowish white with brown barring on the breast, arrowhead-shaped marks on the sides of the breast and upper belly, and broad brown streaks on the flanks and lower belly. Adult females are identical but for white spots on their entire crown. Juveniles are similar to adults with a browner streaked (not spotted) crown and lighter streaking on the belly....
