Add an action to the Maya "Status Bar"

add_to_statusbar.py

import os
from PySide import QtGui

# Use this to locate your widget; it will return the
# widget currently under your cursor.
# parent = QtGui.qApp.widgetAt(QtGui.QCursor.pos())
# parent.objectName()

# Use this once you know the name of it, in this case "toolBar1"
# We can find it as a child of the main window.
window = {o.objectName(): o for o in QtGui.qApp.topLevelWidgets()}["MayaWindow"]
toolbar = window.findChild(QtGui.QToolBar, "toolBar1")

# This particular QToolBar has been configured to only show
# icons, no text. So we'll need to grab a random icon off your system.
icon_dir = os.environ["XBMLANGPATH"].split(os.pathsep)[1].rstrip("%B")
icon_fname = os.path.join(icon_dir, os.listdir(icon_dir)[0])
icon_pixmap = QtGui.QPixmap(icon_fname)
icon_icon = QtGui.QIcon(icon_pixmap)

# Create a random action
action = QtGui.QAction(icon_icon, "Hello", toolbar)

# Add to the start..
toolbar.insertAction(toolbar.actions()[0], action)

# Or to the end..
# toolbar.addAction(action)

# If you need to replace/update it, you can remove it like so.
# toolbar.removeAction(action)

# Enjoy!