Antillean Piculet

The Antillean Piculet occupies a number of different habitats within Hispaniola, including humid and dry Pinus and broadleaf forests, as well as semi-arid scrubland and thorn-forest. It will also occupy stands of mangrove forest and occasionally orchards and plantations. It occurs from sea-level to 1800 m, although in pine forests it is more common below 300 m. Within this habitat it prefers dense undergrowth.

The Antillean Piculet is classified as Least Concern. Does not qualify for a more at risk category. Widespread and abundant taxa are included in this category.

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. 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. More

The Antillean Piculet (Nesoctites micromegas) has proven to be a very distinct species evolutionarily between piculets and woodpeckers (Benz et al., 2006) and thus is nowadays placed in a subfamily of its own. The arrangement of species in the genera follows del Hoyo et al. (2002). More

was determined that the Antillean Piculet is a surviving offshoot of proto-woodpeckers. The evolutionary history of this group is not well documented, but the known fossils allow some preliminary conclusions: the earliest known modern picids were piculet-like forms of the Late Oligocene, about 25 million years ago (mya). By that time, however, the group was already present in the Americas and Europe, and it is hypothesized that they actually evolved much earlier, maybe as early as the Early Eocene (50 mya). More

Antillean Piculet that are threatened due to habitat lost. Although local people that have participated as guides in scientific research, understand banding, they have no place to report scientific information, which is unfortunately lost. In addition, because of lack of funding, simple management of wildlife is lacking. Due to the fact that this area was managed from 1989 to 2001, Hispaniolan Highland-Tanager had been able to recover. More

Antillean Piculet, Dominican Republic Antillean Piculet, Dominican Republic The Antillean Piculet is placed in its own genus, is endemic to Hispaniola and performed beautifully (participant Ron Knight). Hispaniolan Woodpecker, Dominican Republic Hispaniolan Woodpecker, Dominican Republic The glorious Hispaniolan Woodpecker is one of the most common Hispaniolan endemics (participant Ron Knight). More

species, the Antillean Piculet, which is restricted to the Caribbean island of Hispaniola. The wrynecks (Jynginae) have an exclusively Old World distribution, with the two species occurring in Europe, Asia and Africa. Overall the woodpeckers are arboreal birds of wooded habitats. They reach their greatest diversity in tropical rainforests, but occur in almost all suitable habitats including woodlands, savannahs, scrublands, bamboo forests. Even grasslands and deserts have been colonised by various species. More

Order : Piciformes
Family : Picidae
Genus : Nesoctites
Species : micromegas
Authority : (Sundevall, 1866)