Pied Puffbird - BirdForum Opus

Photo by Anselmo d Affonseca
Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil, April, 2013

Notharchus tectus

Includes: Lesser Pied Puffbird; Greater Pied Puffbird

Identification

14 - 17 cm. A strikingly patterned Puffbird.

• Glossy black upperparts, white below
• Dark bare patch behind eye
• Small white spots on black crown
• White supercilium, broad black eyestripe
• Broad black pectoral band
• Black flank patches lightly barred white
• Black bill

Sexes similar, immatures duller, browner above and white areas tinged buff.

Similar species

Can be confused with White-necked Puffbird which is much bigger, has a bigger bill and a white forehead.

Distribution

Central and South America
Central America: Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama
South America: Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Brazil

Taxonomy

Split into two species by HBW alive: Greater Pied Puffbird (tectus and picatus) and Lesser Pied Puffbird (subtectus).

Subspecies^[1]

• N. t. subtectus:

• Caribbean coast of Costa Rica to central Colombia and south-western Ecuador

• N. t. picatus:

• Eastern Ecuador and eastern Peru

• N. t. tectus:

• Southern Venezuela to Guianas and Amazonian Brazil (east to Maranhão)

Habitat

Found in tropical lowland evergreen forest, forest edges, clearings and streamsides, second growth, mangroves, woodland and savanna.
Occurs in lowlands up to 1000 m, below 300 m in Costa Rica.

Behaviour

Diet

Feeds on dragonflies, orthoptera, bugs, butterflies and moths, bees and wasps, bettles, termites and spiders. Forages from an open or a dead branch, usually high up in the canopy. Perches motionless for long periods.

Breeding

Breeding recorded in May in Costa Rica, June in Panama, February to August in Colombia, September in Suriname, March to May in French Guiana. The nest is placed in a hole, excavated in an arboreal termitarium, 4 to 25 m above the ground (in one case just 2 m). Lays 2 eggs.

Movements

Probably a resident species.

References

1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2016. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2016, with updates to August 2016. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
2. Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved November 2016)

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Pied Puffbird. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 10 May 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Pied_Puffbird

External Links

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