Brown-banded Puffbird
Notharchus ordii
Large, black-and-white puffbird with a brown breast patch. In addition to its brown band, note the lack of a white eyebrow, present in other black-and-white puffbirds. Found mainly in forests with sandy or rocky soil, often with stunted vegetation. In some parts of its range, it is also found in mature upland rainforest. Its song is a long, rising series of whistles, followed by a slowly descending series of stuttered whistles “wi wi woo, wi wi woo, …”.
Identification
The brown-banded puffbird is about 20 cm (7.9 in) long and weighs about 51.5 g (1.8 oz). It crown, nape, upperparts, and a thin line from the gape to the eye are a slightly glossy black. The lower part of its forehead; its face, chin, throat and upper breast; and a thin white line at the base of the nape are white. A black band separates the white upper breast from the olive-brown lower breast. The central belly is white with brown spots and the flanks white with black spots. The upper side of the tail is black with white tips to the feathers and the underside has a white band at the middle. A white band on the underwing shows in flight. The large bill and the feet are black and the eye dark brown.
Taxonomy
The brown-banded puffbird is monotypic. It is closely related to the black-breasted puffbird (N. pectoralis) and some authors have proposed that they form a superspecies.
- Scientific name
- Notharchus ordii
- Authority
- (Cassin, 1851)
- Order
- Piciformes
- Family
- Bucconidae
- Genus
- Notharchus
Range and habitat
The brown-banded puffbird has a highly disjunct distribution. One large region spans from southern Venezuela's Amazonas state into northwestern Brazil's Amazonas state. Another region is in Brazil's Rondônia state and a third at the intersection of Brazil, Peru, and Bolivia. There are also scattered records elsewhere in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, and Peru. It inhabits the interior and edges of rainforest and transitional forest, stunted forest on white-sand soils, and the edges of terra firme forest. It tends to remain in the canopy.
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
Little is known about the brown-banded puffbird's feeding behavior and diet. The few observations suggest that it hunts like others of its genus, sallying from a perch to catch insects or pluck them from vegetation.<p>The one described nest of the brown-banded puffbird was a cavity in an arboreal termitarium about 4.5 m (15 ft) up in a mostly bare tree; both sexes excavated it.<p>The brown-banded puffbird's song is "lengthy, with several clear, loud introductory whistles followed by cadenced couplets and triplets."
Conservation
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
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