Birdfinding.info ⇒ Fairly common in various habitats, but inconspicuous and easily missed. Among the frequently visited sites, the most reliable seem to be the middle elevations of Zapotén Road and Los Haitises National Park (both Paraíso Caño Hondo and Los Limones). In Haiti, most numerous on Gonâve Island and at Pic Macaya Biosphere Reserve; rare in La Visite National Park.
Antillean Piculet
Nesoctites micromegas
Family: Picidae
Endemic to Hispaniola and Gonâve, where it is widespread in an array of wooded habitats at most elevations, including montane pine forests, dry forests, humid lowland forests, dry scrub, and mangroves. Locally common in some areas, but inexplicably rare or sporadic in many areas of apparently suitable habitat.
Identification
Unique: a very small woodpecker with a large bill. Solid olive-brown above; spotted and streaked olive-brown below.
Antillean Piculet, male. (Lomas Lindas, Dominican Republic; September 22, 2013.) © Dax M. Román E.
Antillean Piculet, male. (Los Haitises National Park, Dominican Republic; April 11, 2008.) © Miguel A. Landestoy T.
Male has a red-and-yellow crown patch. Female has an all-yellow crown patch.
Antillean Piculet, female and male. (Sierra de Bahoruco National Park, Dominican Republic; April 8, 2015.) © Alan Van Norman
Antillean Piculet, male. (Lomas Lindas, Dominican Republic; September 22, 2013.) © Dax M. Román E.
Antillean Piculet, male. (Katil, Dominican Republic; February 14, 2016.) © Andrew Spencer
Antillean Piculet, female. (Mencia, Dominican Republic; November 3, 2013.) © Dax M. Román E.
Antillean Piculet, female. (Mencia, Dominican Republic; November 3, 2013.) © Dax M. Román E.
Antillean Piculet, male. (Los Haitises National Park, Dominican Republic; April 11, 2008.) © Miguel A. Landestoy T.
Antillean Piculet, female. (Alcoa Road, Dominican Republic; August 2, 2012.) © Dax M. Román E.
Antillean Piculet, female. (Alcoa Road, Dominican Republic; August 2, 2012.) © Dax M. Román E.
Antillean Piculet, female. (Ébano Verde Scientific Reserve, Dominican Republic; July 18, 2012.) © Dax M. Román E.
Antillean Piculet, female. (Ébano Verde Scientific Reserve, Dominican Republic; July 18, 2012.) © Dax M. Román E.
Antillean Piculet, female. (Sierra de Bahoruco, Dominican Republic; February 17, 2012.) © Pericles Brea Torrens
Notes
Polytypic species consisting of two recognized subspecies: micromegas on Hispaniola and abbotti on Gonâve.
References
eBird. 2018. eBird: An online database of bird distribution and abundance. Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, N.Y. http://www.ebird.org. (Accessed December 17, 2018.)
Gorman, G. 2014. Woodpeckers of the World: A Photographic Guide. Firefly Books, London.
Latta, S., C. Rimmer, A. Keith, J. Wiley, H. Raffaele, K. McFarland, and E. Fernandez. 2006. Birds of the Dominican Republic and Haiti. Princeton University Press, Princeton, N.J.
Raffaele, H., J. Wiley, O. Garrido, A. Keith, and J. Raffaele. 1998. A Guide to the Birds of the West Indies. Princeton University Press, Princeton, N.J.