[2][3] The rufous piculet is a very small bird with short wings and an almost non-existent tail, ranging in length from 8 to 10 cm (3 to 4 in).

The upper parts are generally green tinted with bronze, and the underparts rufous, orange or cinnamon, with paler flanks.

[4] The legs and feet are yellowish or orange, and this piculet has just three toes on each foot,[5] (four being normal in the woodpecker family).

Its range extends from southern Myanmar, through Thailand and the Malay Peninsula to the Greater Sunda Islands and Borneo.

Its typical habitat is dense humid secondary forests with tangled undergrowth, vines, creepers, bamboos and dead and rotting trees, often near streams.

[4] The rufous piculet is an active bird moving singly or in small groups through the lowest storeys of the forest, usually not above 5 m (16 ft) from the ground.