Plain-breasted piculet endemic to South America on the eastern side of the Andes where it lives in the western part of the Amazon basin. The species is present in southern Colombia, eastern Ecuador, Peru and western Brazil at altitudes of up to . It is found in open parts of humid lowland forests, flooded forests, riverside corridors, swamps, thickets and groves, and logged areas with secondary growth and wooded pastures. It often occurs in areas of young "Cecropia" and "Mimosa" trees. The plain-breasted piculet is usually seen by itself or in pairs, but it will occasionally joins small flocks of birds of
Rufous piculet of bare skin around the eye. The legs and feet are yellowish or orange, and this piculet has just three toes on each foot, (four being normal in the woodpecker family). The juvenile is rather more grey. The rufous piculet is native to tropical southeastern Asia. Its range extends from southern Myanmar, through Thailand and the Malay Peninsula to the Greater Sunda Islands and Borneo. It is a resident and sedentary species, generally restricted to the lowlands and hills, but at altitudes of up to about in Borneo. Its typical habitat is dense humid secondary forests with tangled undergrowth, vines,