White-barred piculet different sub-populations of this bird on either side of the equator in South America. The northerly population is in Guyana, northwestern French Guiana and northern Brazil. The southern population is in southeastern Brazil, eastern Bolivia, eastern Paraguay and northern Argentina. The white-barred piculet occupies various habitats including wet and dry woodland, forest verges, thickets, gallery forests, wooded savannah, scrub, bamboo clumps, vines, creepers and overgrown parks and gardens at elevations of up to about . It is a resident, sedentary species. The white-barred piculet usually forages singly, but may join small mixed species flocks. It feeds on ants, their larvae
Ochre-collared piculet are chocolate. The tail is mostly black but the inner webs of the central two feathers are white, and the inner webs of the outer four feathers are whitish near the tip. The chin and throat are white with slight barring, and the underparts are white or cream heavily barred with black, especially on the lower belly. The iris is brown, the beak is black and slightly curved and the legs are grey. The ochre-collared piculet is native to South America, its range extending from southeastern Brazil and eastern Paraguay to northeastern Argentina. It is a resident and sedentary species