Rufous piculet synchrony. The diet consists of ants, their larvae, termites, small beetles, spiders and other small invertebrates. In Borneo the breeding season is in February while in Malaysia, nestlings have been found in May and June. Sometimes the nest is in a hole in a dead branch, and at other times it may be in bamboo. The rufous piculet is a fairly common or common bird and has a very extensive range, estimated to be nearly . Its range extends from sea level up to about . No particular threats to this bird are known and the population is believed to
White-barred piculet with several other species of piculet where their ranges overlap; these include the varzea ("P. varzeae") along the Amazon River, the ochre-collared ("P. temminckii") in southeastern Brazil, the ocellated ("P. dorbignyanus") in Bolivia, and the white-wedged piculet ("P. albosquamatus"), also in Bolivia. The white-barred piculet is between long. The sexes differ in that the male has red streaks or a solid red patch on the fore-crown, while the female lacks this. The rest of the crown is black, speckled with white. The upper parts of the body are tan or olive-brown, faintly barred with white, and the main flight feathers