White-whiskered Puffbird - BirdForum Opus

Malacoptila panamensis

Male.
Photo © by Dave B Smith
Panama

Identification

18 cm. Bristles around the base of the large bill, and white “whiskers”, actually tufts of feathers. Pale brown upperparts and tail, cinnamon spotting on wings and crown, cinnamon-buff underparts, streaked darker, and becoming paler moving down the body to the almost white vent area. The female has a greyer brown back and darker streaks on the paler underparts. Young birds are like the female but have barring on the upperparts and narrower streaks on the underparts.

Female
Photo © by Dave B Smith

Distribution

Southeastern Mexico to central Ecuador.

Taxonomy

Four subspecies are recognized:^[1] inornata (fuliginosa), panamensis, poliopis, and magdalenae

Habitat

Forests, shady plantations, especially of cocoa, and old second growth in lowlands and foothills.

Behaviour

• Breeding: It nests in a 15-55 cm long, 6 cm diameter burrow in, usually, gently sloping ground. The wider nesting chamber is lined with dried leaves. 2, rarely 3, glossy white eggs are laid; both sexes incubate the eggs and feed the young.
• Diet: Includes large insects, spiders, small frogs or lizards.

References

1. Clements, JF. 2008. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2008. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019.

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) White-whiskered Puffbird. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 20 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/White-whiskered_Puffbird

External Links

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