The ochraceous piculet (Picumnus limae) is a species of bird in subfamily Picumninae of the woodpecker family Picidae.

[4][3][5] However, BirdLife International's Handbook of the Birds of the World (HBW) treats the darker, southern, population as a separate species, the tawny piculet (P. fulvescens).

The other three taxonomic systems had earlier separated them but have concluded that the color differences used for the differentiation are along a cline and that any division is arbitrary.

[6][7] The ochraceous piculet occurs in northeastern Brazilian from the state of Ceará south to Sergipe and inland into Piauí.

Both sexes excavate a nest hole, which can be in the trunk of a tree or sometimes a fence post, and typically between 1 and 4 m (3 and 13 ft) above the ground.

[6] The IUCN follows HBW taxonomy and so has separately assessed the northern "ochraceous" (limae) and southern "tawny" (fulvescens) populations.

Its population, of unknown size, is believed to be declining due to "massive deforestation" by logging and conversion to sugarcane plantations and grazing land.