White-eared Puffbird

Identificazione

Like some other puffbirds, the white-eared puffbird is a round, plump bird with a very narrow tail. The head is relatively large, with a dark brown barred crown, and an orange, black-tipped bill. The sit-and-wait feeding strategy, for insects or opportunistic prey, may explain this body shape.<p>The bird has a medium-brown back and wings, with dark rufous speckles and bars; white and black flecked on the breast. The upper breast is white, extending to a narrow-to-medium white collar around the neck. There is a distinctive, medium-sized white ear patch, which gives the species its common name, and that is surrounded by a dark ear patch. It has a medium-sized tail in dark brown and slightly graduated, with narrow, widely spaced buffy bars, and a pale tip. It measures about 21–22 cm (8.3–8.7 in) in length and weighs between 48–64 g.

Tassonomia

Genere: Nystalus; famiglia: Bucconidae; ordine: Piciformes.

Nome scientifico

Nystalus chacuru

Autorità

(Vieillot, 1816)

Ordine

Galbuliformi

Famiglia

Bucconidae

Genere

Nystalus

Areale e habitat

The white-eared puffbird can be found from eastern Peru and central Brazil south to Paraguay, Bolivia and northeastern Argentina.<p>In south-eastern Brazil, it is centered on the Cerrado region, and on the southeast Atlantic coast from northern Bahia state south to the Paraná–Santa Catarina state borders. It covers much of the eastern and northern Pantanal, and southern areas of the Caatinga.<p>The north and west parts of its range include the upstream headwaters of some Amazon Basin river systems, encompassing nearly all of northern Bolivia, the Madeira River's many headwater tributaries, and the extreme headwaters of the Tapajós River. East of the Tapajós, the range expands into the Cerrado, the upper half of the Xingu River drainage, and the entire drainage system of the Araguaia-Tocantins River (the eastward system, generally considered part of the Amazon Basin).<p>In Peru, the species is rare but local, found on the very western border region of Bolivia and in some localities in north-central Peru. In this region, it favors the dry forests and scrub found in parts of the Valleys of Mantaro, Apurimac and Urubamba at altitudes between 1000 and 2200 m. It was also recorded in the Mayo Valley.<p>Another second locale is mid-river on the downstream Madeira River in southern Amazon Basin Amazonas state.

Migrazione

Specie stanziale

Comportamento

Comportamento migratorio: Specie stanziale.

Conservazione

Tendenza della popolazione: stabile.

Tendenza della popolazione

stabile