piculet

[pik-yuh-lit]

pic·u·let

[pik-yuh-lit]
noun
any of numerous small, tropical woodpeckers, chiefly of the genus Picumnus, that lack stiffened shafts in the tail feathers.

Origin:
1840–50; < Latin pīcu(s) woodpecker + -let
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Piculet is always a great word to know.
So is doohickey. Does it mean:
a gadget; dingus; thingumbob.
an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle.
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia

piculet

any of about 29 species of small, stub-tailed birds related to the woodpeckers and constituting the subfamily Picumninae, family Picidae (q.v.). Nearly all are restricted to Central and South America; there are three species in East Asia and one in western Africa. Piculets, 9-14 cm (3.5-5.5 inches) long, are mottled gray-green to brown above, often with salt-and-pepper head, and are white below, with spots or bars. They climb like nuthatches, looking for insects, and are able to perch crosswise on branches. Though small-billed, piculets dig nest holes in soft wood. The most widely distributed New World species is the white-barred piculet (Picumnus cirratus), found from the Guiana Highlands to Argentina. The speckled piculet (P. innominatus) of southeast Asia drums on dry bamboo.

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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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