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
Ochre-collared piculet found at altitudes of up to . Its habitat is mostly lowland rainforest with bamboos, vines and tangled growth, but it is also found in secondary growth, thickets, tall scrub, parks and gardens. It hybridizes with the white-barred piculet where their ranges overlap. The ochre-collared piculet forages through the undergrowth, including scrambling among vines, slender branches and saplings. Its diet is ants, beetle larvae and other small invertebrates. Its breeding habits have been little studied but it nests in a hole in a tree; one nest in São Paulo State in Brazil was above the ground and a male was