• Summary
• Text account
• Data table and detailed info
• Distribution map
• Reference and further resources

Taxonomic note
Hybridizes occasionally with P. cirratus. Monotypic.

Taxonomic source(s)
del Hoyo, J., Collar, N.J., Christie, D.A., Elliott, A. and Fishpool, L.D.C. 2014. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Volume 1: Non-passerines. Lynx Edicions BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, UK.

Red List criteria met

Critically Endangered	Endangered	Vulnerable
-	-	-

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2022	Near Threatened	D2
2016	Endangered	A3c
2013	Endangered	A3c
2012	Endangered	A3c
2009	Least Concern
2008	Least Concern
2004	Least Concern
2000	Lower Risk/Least Concern
1994	Lower Risk/Least Concern
1988	Lower Risk/Least Concern

Migratory status	not a migrant	Forest dependency	high
Land-mass type		Average mass	-

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	97,500 km2	medium
Number of locations	2	-
Severely fragmented?	no	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	unknown	-	-	-
Population trend	decreasing	-	suspected	2016-2026
Rate of change over the past 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	1-9%	-	-	-
Rate of change over the future 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	1-9%	-	-	-
Rate of change over the past & future 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	1-9%	-	-	-
Generation length	2.67 years	-	-	-
Number of subpopulations	1	-	-	-
Percentage of mature individuals in largest subpopulation	100%	-	-	-

Population justification: The population size has not been quantified. The species appears to be common in suitable habitat within its range (M. Cohn-Haft in litt. 2022).
While density estimates are available for congeners, including P. exilis, P. rufiventris and P. spilogaster, these are not considered representative for this species due to ecological differences (D. M. Lima in litt. 2022).

Trend justification: The species is feared to be in decline as forested habitat within the range is lost.
Over ten years from 2010 to 2020, approximately 7% of tree cover with at least 50% canopy cover was lost from within the species' range; based on the rate of tree cover loss within the range over five years to 2020, up to 10% of tree cover is projected to be lost over the next decade (Global Forest Watch 2021, using Hansen et al. [2013] data and methods disclosed therein). The species is thought to have some tolerance of disturbance (del Hoyo et al. 2002; M. Cohn-Haft in litt. 2011, 2022), so the population size is unlikely to exceed 10% over ten years. It is here tentatively placed in the band 1-9% over ten years.

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Resident	Breeding visitor	Non-breeding visitor	Passage migrant
Brazil	extant	native	yes

Country/Territory	IBA Name
Brazil	Reserva Biológica do Rio Trombetas
Brazil	Várzeas do Médio Rio Amazonas

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Swamp	major	resident
Altitude	0 - 50 m	Occasional altitudinal limits

Threat (level 1)	Threat (level 2)	Impact and Stresses
Agriculture & aquaculture	Livestock farming & ranching - Agro-industry grazing, ranching or farming	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Energy production & mining	Renewable energy	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Whole (>90%)		Unknown		Unknown
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Problematic native species/diseases - Picumnus cirratus	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		No decline		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses Hybridisation

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Varzea Piculet Picumnus varzeae. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/varzea-piculet-picumnus-varzeae on 23/12/2024.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2024) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/search on 23/12/2024.