Spotted piculet

The spotted piculet is about 10 cm (3.9 in) long. Adult males have a black cap with a red patch on the forehead and white spots on the rest of it. Their face is mostly dark brown with white tips on some feathers. Their upperparts are mostly dark brown whose feathers have black and white tips. Their rump is paler. Their flight feathers are dark brown with buff or cinnamon-buff edges and tips on the secondaries and tertials. Their tail is blackish; the innermost pair of feathers have mostly white inner webs and the outer two pairs have a white patch near the end. Their chin, throat, and sides of the neck are black and white in a variable pattern. Their underparts are light to darkish brown, usually with a rufous tinge, and large black and white spots. Adult females are identical but for no red on the forehead. Juveniles are generally duller than adults and their dots are less distinct.