Collared Puffbird

The collared puffbird (''Bucco capensis'') is a species of bird in the family Bucconidae, the puffbirds, nunlets, and nunbirds. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela.Remsen, J. V., Jr., J. I. Areta, E. Bonaccorso, S. Claramunt, A. Jaramillo, D. F. Lane, J. F. Pacheco, M. B. Robbins, F. G. Stiles, and K. J. Zimmer. Version 24 August 2021. Species Lists of Birds for South American Countries and Territories. https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCCountryLists.htm retrieved August 24, 2021

Taxonomy and systematics

In 1760 the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson included a description of the collared puffbird in his ''Ornithologie'' that was based on a specimen collected in French Guiana. He used the French name ''Le barbu'' and the Latin name ''Bucco''. The two stars (**) at the start of the paragraph indicates that Brisson based his description on the examination of a specimen. Although Brisson coined Latin names, these do not conform to the binomial system and are not recognised by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature. When in 1766 the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus updated his ''Systema Naturae'' for the twelfth edition he added 240 species that had been previously described by Brisson. One of these was the collared puffbird. Linnaeus included a terse description, coined the binomial name ''Bucco capensis'', and cited Brisson's work. The specific epithet ''capensis'' denotes the Cape of Good Hope where Linnaeus mistakenly believed the birds occurred.

The collared puffbird is currently (2021) treated as monotypic. The population in the western part of its range has been suggested as a subspecies, ''Bucco capensis dugandi'', but most authorities do not accept it.Rasmussen, P. C., N. Collar, and G. M. Kirwan (2020). Collared Puffbird (''Bucco capensis''), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.colpuf1.01 retrieved November 2, 2021Remsen, J. V., Jr., J. I. Areta, E. Bonaccorso, S. Claramunt, A. Jaramillo, D. F. Lane, J. F. Pacheco, M. B. Robbins, F. G. Stiles, and K. J. Zimmer. Version 24 August 2021. A classification of the bird species of South America. American Ornithological Society. https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCBaseline.htm retrieved August 24, 2021Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, S. M. Billerman, T. A. Fredericks, J. A. Gerbracht, D. Lepage, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2021. The eBird/Clements checklist of Birds of the World: v2021. Downloaded from https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/ Retrieved August 25, 2021HBW and BirdLife International (2020) ''Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International digital checklist of the birds of the world'' Version 5. Available at: http://datazone.birdlife.org/userfiles/file/Species/Taxonomy/HBW-BirdLife_Checklist_v5_Dec20.zip xls zipped 1 MBretrieved May 27, 2021

Description

The collared puffbird is about long and weighs . Its head and back are dark rufous, the rump a lighter rufous, and the tail orange-chestnut with narrow black bars. The folded wing shows fine black barring on a brown background. The chin and throat are white to buffy white that extend around the nape as a thin buffy line. Below them are a wide black collar that encircles the chest and upper back. The lower breast and the center of the belly are buffy white that darkens to dull orange on the flanks and vent. The eye is surrounded by bare orange-yellow skin; the eye color can be whitish, orange, or vermilion. The bill is mostly orange with some dusky on the maxilla. The feet can be light green, orange, or brown.

Distribution and habitat

The collared puffbird is found in most of the Amazon Basin, from southeastern Colombia south through eastern Ecuador and Peru to northern Bolivia and east through southern Venezuela, the Guianas, and northern Brazil. In Brazil it is found as far east as Belém and south into Mato Grosso. It inhabits humid primary ''terra firme'' forest, drier hilly country, and also '' várzea'' forest in the lower Amazon. In elevation it ranges from sea level to but is usually found below .

Behavior

Feeding

The collared puffbird hunts by sallying from a shaded perch to pluck prey from foliage, bark, or the forest floor. Its prey includes lizards, snakes, frogs, and several types of large insects. It sometimes joins mixed-species foraging flocks and less often follows army ant swarms.

Breeding

The collared puffbird's breeding season spans at least May to September. It lays its two glossy white eggs in a cavity excavated in an arboreal termitarium or rotted tree trunk.

Vocalization

The collared puffbird's song is "a repeated, brisk, mewing 'cua-will, cua-will…' or 'awww awwAWW-chaw awwAWW-chaw awwAWW-chaw, and is mainly given at or just before dawn. It is frequently sung as a duet.

Status

The IUCN has assessed the collared puffbird as being of Least Concern. It has an extremely large range; however, its population has not been quantified and is believed to be decreasing. It is considered common in much of Brazil and rare to uncommon in the western part of its range. It occurs in several protected areas but seems to be highly sensitive to habitat disturbance outside of them.

References

External links

Stamps
(for Ecuador, Paraguay, Suriname) with RangeMap

VIREO

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1272542

Bucco
Birds of Brazil
Birds of the Amazon Basin
Birds of the Guianas
Birds of South America
Birds of Colombia
Birds of Venezuela
Birds of Ecuador
Birds of Peru
Birds described in 1766
Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus