Piculet
Bands dwarf woodpecker ( Picumnus temminckii )
The dwarf woodpecker ( Picumninae ) - also known as soft tail woodpeckers - are a subfamily of the woodpecker family ( order of Piciformes ). In contrast to the genuine dwarf woodpeckers woodpeckers have no support tail because their tail feathers are not stiff enough. As their beak is not as stable, they do not build their own nests, but use abandoned woodpecker holes. They are characterized by a relatively large head and a long tongue. They move like the nuthatches, and feed mainly on insects, which they find under dead tree bark. A special feature is the zygodactyle arrangement of the toes - two forward and two backward facing toes. The representatives of the dwarf woodpeckers have sizes of about 10 cm and are thus much smaller than their relatives the Real woodpeckers. Their habitat is tropical forests. The species of the genus Picumnus are common in South and Central America. The genus Sasia one an African and two Asian species. For occurring in the Caribbean genus of Hüpfspechte ( Nesoctites ) is now proposed its own subfamily ( Benz et al., 2006).
System
The subfamily of dwarf woodpeckers contains the following genera:
- Dwarf woodpecker ( Picumnus ) - 27 species White dandruff dwarf woodpecker ( Picumnus albosquamatus )
- Goldstirn- dwarf woodpecker ( Picumnus aurifrons )
- Yellow-bellied dwarf woodpecker ( Picumnus Castelnau )
- Zimtzwergspecht ( Picumnus cinnamomeus )
- Zebra dwarf woodpecker ( Picumnus cirratus )
- Orbignyzwergspecht ( Picumnus dorbygnianus )
- Gold scales dwarf woodpecker ( Picumnus exilis )
- Fahl dwarf woodpecker ( Picumnus fulvescens )
- Rust neck dwarf woodpecker ( Picumnus fuscus )
- Brown back - dwarf woodpecker ( Picumnus granadensis )
- Tüpfelzwergspecht ( Picumnus innominatus )
- Lafresnayezwergspecht ( Picumnus lafresnayi )
- Ocher dwarf woodpecker ( Picumnus limae )
- Däumlingszwergspecht ( Picumnus minutissimus )
- Brown Chest dwarf woodpecker ( Picumnus nebulosus )
- Black spots dwarf woodpecker ( Picumnus nigropunctatus ) - is considered by some authors as a subspecies of gold scales dwarf woodpecker
- Olivrücken dwarf woodpecker ( Picumnus olivaceus )
- Orinokozwergspecht ( Picumnus pumilus )
- Spot dwarf woodpecker ( Picumnus pygmaeus )
- Red-bellied dwarf woodpecker ( Picumnus rufiventris )
- Braun Ear dwarf woodpecker ( Picumnus sclateri )
- White-bellied dwarf woodpecker ( Picumnus spilogaster )
- Scales dwarf woodpecker ( Picumnus squamulatus )
- Beaded chest - dwarf woodpecker ( Picumnus steindachneri )
- Cuzcozwergspecht ( Picumnus subtilis)
- Bands dwarf woodpecker ( Picumnus temminckii )
- Varzeazwergspecht ( Picumnus varzeae )
- Gray belly Mouse Woodpecker ( Sasia africana)
- Malays mouse Woodpecker ( Sasia abnormis )
- Rötelmausspecht ( Sasia ochracea )
- Hüpfspecht ( Nesoctites micro megas )