Golden-spangled Piculet (Picumnus exilis) [XC480041]
by Dante Buzzetti from Itacoatiara, Itacoatiara, Amazonas, Brazil (song)
Golden-spangled Piculet (Picumnus exilis) [XC66398]
by Daniel Lane from El Pauji, Venezuela (song)
Subspecies
Picumnus exilis (Sibley and Monroe 1990, 1993) was provisionally split into Golden-spangled Piculet (Picumnus exilis) and Picumnus salvini by Stotz et al. (1996) but this treatment has not been adopted, following SACC (2005).
May be more closely related to Rusty-necked Piculet (Picumnus fuscus). Formerly treated by many authors as conspecific with Picumnus nigropunctatus, which was included as a synonym of the form "salvini"; latter, described from "Bogotá" skins with no type locality, had earlier been lumped as a subspecies of present species. However, all pre-1990's taxonomic conclusions were based on totally inadequate material, with very few study skins available, and recent research using series of specimens has shown "salvini" to be almost certainly a synonym of subspecies obsoletus of Scaled Piculet (Picumnus squamulatus).
The following 6 subspecies are recognised:
undulatus Hargitt, 1889 - Extreme eastern Colombia (north-eastern Guainía), south-eastern Venezuela, northern Brazil (Roraima) and western Guyana.
clarus Zimmer, JT & Phelps, 1946 - Eastern Venezuela in eastern Bolívar and southern Delta Amacuro.
buffonii Lafresnaye, 1845 - Eastern Guyana to north-eastern Brazil north of the Amazon in Amapa, and south of the Amazon in north-eastern Para and north-western Maranhao.
BirdLife International Species Factsheet