Antillean piculet Antillean piculet The Antillean piculet ("Nesoctites micromegas") is a species of bird in the woodpecker family Picidae. It is monotypic within the genus Nesoctites. The species is evolutionarily distinct from the other piculets and is afforded its own subfamily Nesoctitinae. It is endemic to the Caribbean island of Hispaniola. A fossil feather in amber attributed to the genus has been found in the Dominican Republic, showing that the ancestors of the species have been isolated on Hispaniola for at least 25 mya. The Antillean piculet occupies a number of different habitats within Hispaniola, including humid and dry "Pinus" and broadleaf
White-barred piculet northeastern Brazil; "P. c. thamnophiloides" found in southeastern Bolivia and northeastern Argentina; "P. c. tucumanus" found in northwestern Argentina; the Pilcomayo piculet, "P. c. pilcomayensis" found in southeastern Bolivia, Paraguay and northeastern Argentina; and the nominate subspecies "P. c. cirratus" found in southeastern Brazil, southern Mato Grosso and eastern Paraguay. The taxonomy of this species is difficult; the races "pilcomayensis", "thamnophiloides" and "tucumanus" intergrade in northern Argentina and are sometimes considered a separate species, and "pilcomayensis" intergrades with "cirratus" in eastern Paraguay. The northern subspecies, "confusus" and "macconnelli" may also be a distinct species. The white-barred piculet also hybridizes widely