Priorities for Future Research

Ecuadorian Piculet has a relatively small distribution, and little is known about its natural history, including the basics of its diet and breeding biology. Perhaps the greatest priority is to better understand its distribution and habitat requirements, to determine the extent to which it may be threatened by long term trends in deforestation and forest fragmentation in its range, especially in western Ecuador. Other important research topics for Ecuadorian Piculet include population biology parameters, such as age at first breeding, life span and survivorship, dispersal, population regulation, territoriality, and population density. Finally, a phylogenetic assessment of relationships of all taxa of Picumnus is long overdue.