- Notharchus macrorhynchos
Includes: Guianan Puffbird
Identification
25 cms. White forehead, broad black breast band, black upperparts, white collar, throat and belly. Variable dark barring on flanks. Bill and feet black.
Variation: Guianan Puffbird (subspecies macrorhynchos) has a much smaller white area at the front of the head, narrower white hindcollar, much more extensive black barring on the flanks, noticeably smaller bill, and differ in voice from other populations.
Distribution
Southern Mexico to southern Brazil.
Taxonomy
Four subspecies accepted:
- N. m. hyperrhynchus from south Mexico to northwest South America
- N. m. cryptoleucus in El Salvador and northwest Nicaragua
- N. m. paraensis in the lower Amazon (Brazil)
- N. m. macrorhynchos from eastern Venezuela to north-eastern Brazil, Suriname, Guyana and French Guiana
Subspecies cryptoleucus is not recognized by all authorities, it is sometimes instead included within hyperrhynchus.
Photo by Alexandre Vinot
Paracou, French Guiana, July 2007.
The species is sometimes split: the first three subspecies are then named White-necked Puffbird, Notharchus hyperrhynchus, and the last one Guianan Puffbird, Notharchus macrorhynchos; Opus is waiting for a sufficient number of world-wide checklists before following this split.
Habitat
Forest borders and secondary growth.
Behaviour
The diet includes large insects and small vertebrates; some vegetable matter.
Both sexes excavate nests in arboreal termitaries; holes in the ground or in trees are also reported.
References
- Clements, James F. 2007. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to October 2007. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. ISBN 9780801445019
- SACC proposal to split White-necked Puffbird
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) White-necked Puffbird. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 7 June 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/White-necked_Puffbird
