#puffbird

Black-breasted Puffbird (Notharchus pectoralis), family Bucconidae, order Piciformes, found in NW South America

Day 14 of Pied Month - Pied Puffbird! Originally planned to do bi since it's in the name, but it looks so round so I had to give it the circle of the intersex flag

Reference photo by Francesco Veronesi

By Patko Erika, CC BY 2.0 

Etymology: Puffed Cheek

First Described By: Linnaeus, 1766

Classification: Dinosauromorpha, Dinosauriformes, Dracohors, Dinosauria, Saurischia, Eusaurischia, Theropoda, Neotheropoda, Averostra, Tetanurae, Orionides, Avetheropoda, Coelurosauria, Tyrannoraptora, Maniraptoromorpha, Maniraptoriformes, Maniraptora, Pennaraptora, Paraves, Eumaniraptora, Averaptora, Avialae, Euavialae, Avebrevicauda, Pygostaylia, Ornithothoraces, Euornithes, Ornithuromorpha, Ornithurae, Neornithes, Neognathae, Neoaves, Inopinaves, Telluraves, Afroaves, Coraciimorphae, Cavitaves, Eucavitaves, Picocoraciae, Picodynastornithes, Piciformes, Galbuli, Bucconidae  

Status: Extant, Least Concern

Time and Place: Within the last 10,000 years, in the Holocene of the Quaternary 

The Collared Puffbird is known from the northern portion of the Amazon basin 

Physical Description: The Collared Puffbird is one of the more ridiculous looking birds out there, with its name adequately describing its ridiculousness. The puffbird is about 18.5 to 19 centimeters in length, and in general brown in color. It has a reddish brown head, darker brown wings, and orange to white feathers on its belly and neck. It also has a distinctive black band of feathers around its neck that look like a collar. The tail of the Collared Puffbird is medium in length, with orange and black stripes. It has a huge, triangular beak. And, noticeably, it can puff up its head feathers to make it look amazing.

Diet: The Collared Puffbird feeds on lizards, snakes, and frogs from the forest floor, as well as some large insects.

Behavior: This bird will perch in heavy shade, blending in with the foliage and surfaces of bark. It will then dive down to the forest floor to collect food, though it sometimes will hunt in mixed species flocks. This stationary feeding method has lead to this bird being called lazy and a sleeper, though it’s of course actually a very precise hunting method. They make repeated, mewing calls, repeated up to six times. They then respond to then with more cooing calls. These songs often form duets that pepper the forest understory. 

By Hector Bottai, CC BY-SA 3.0 

The Collared Puffbird mates from about May to September depending on its home habitat. It then digs a hole in the tree line, usually in rotting trees and those holes already started by termites. They lay about two white eggs, though its uncertain how long it takes for those eggs to develop. The birds then stay in their home territory for the rest of their lives.

Ecosystem: The Collared Puffbird lives in the jungle understory and sometimes the middlestory and secondary canopy of the most humid forests in the hill country, as well as in some drier patches. They’ll stick to lower elevations over higher ones.

Other: The Collared Puffbird genus, Bucco, may actually contain at least three other species, but taxonomic debates rage on as to whether or not those other puffbirds belong here or in other genera/their own genera.

~ By Meig Dickson

Sources under the Cut

Guianan Puffbird (Notharchus macrorhynchos), family Bucconidae, order Piciformes, northern Brazil