White-necked Puffbird

The white-necked puffbird (''Notharchus hyperrhynchus'') is a species of bird in the family Bucconidae, the puffbirds, nunlets, and nunbirds. It is found in Mexico, Central America, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, 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 24 August 2021

Taxonomy and systematics

During the second half of the twentieth century, the white-necked puffbird and what are now the buff-bellied puffbird (''N. swainsoni'') and Guianan puffbird (''N. macrorhynchus'') were treated as conspecific.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. A classification of the bird species of South America. American Ornithological Society. https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCBaseline.htm retrieved 24 August 2021del Hoyo, J., N. Collar, and G. M. Kirwan (2020). White-necked Puffbird (''Notharchus hyperrhynchus''), 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.whnpuf2.01 retrieved 29 October 2021 As of 2021, the white-necked puffbird has two recognized subspecies, the nominate ''N. h. hyperrhynchus'' and ''N. h. paraensis''. However, the population in El Salvador and northwestern Nicaragua has been discussed as a third subspecies, ''N. h. cryptoleucus'', and the population in northeastern Colombia's Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta might also be a separate subspecies.

Description

The white-necked puffbird is about long and weighs .It is mostly glossy black. It has a broad white forehead, throat, upper breast, and most of the belly. A broad black band separates the last two, and a black stripe runs from the beak to the crown, passing through a dark red eye. The white of the throat extends as a fairly broad line around the nape. The lower flanks are barred black and white and the tail is black with narrow white tips to the feathers. The very large bill and the feet are black. The two subspecies differ only in the length of the bill, with that of ''N. h. paraensis'' being exceptionally long.

Distribution and habitat

The nominate subspecies of the white-necked puffbird is found from southern Mexico through Central America into northern Colombia and northwestern Venezuela, and separately in southwestern Colombia and western Ecuador. Another separate population is found in central Colombia, eastern Ecuador and Peru, northern Bolivia, and eastern Venezuela south and east into much of Amazonian Brazil. ''N. h. paraensis'' is found only in the Amazon River valley of the Brazilian state of Pará east of the Tapajós River. The species inhabits a wide variety of landscapes. It mostly occurs in semi-open environments such as secondary forest, the edges of primary forest, open woodlands, savanna, and clearings. It also occurs in the interior of tropical evergreen, semi-evergreen, and ''terra firme'' forest; the landward side of mangrove forest; and plantations. It is found at all levels of the forest, from the ground to the canopy. In elevation it mostly ranges from sea level to .

Behavior

Feeding

The white-necked puffbird hunts from an open perch by diving on its prey and will investigate army ant swarms. It beats its catch on the perch before eating it. Its diet is primarily insects and also includes small invertebrates and some fruits. There is one record of capture of a rufous-tailed hummingbird (''Amazilia tzacatl'').

Breeding

The white-necked puffbird's breeding season varies geographically but generally is within the March to September window. Both sexes excavate the nest cavity, usually in an arboreal termitarium or rotting tree. Most nests are about above the ground, but they have been reported as low as and as high as . Holes in the ground and an earth bank have also been reported. The one documented clutch had two eggs.

Vocalization

Descriptions of the white-necked puffbird's song include "a long bubbling trill, at a constant pitch or rising slightly, then falling" and "an evenly pitched monotonous trill that lasts 3–5 seconds". It also makes "a descending whistle 'wheeew'" call and "a quiet growl."

Status

The IUCN has assessed the white-necked puffbird as being of Least Concern. It has a very large range and a population of at least 500,000 mature individuals, though the latter is believed to be decreasing.

References

External links

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White-necked puffbird Stamps
from Belize a
bird-stamps.org
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{{Taxonbar, from=Q586253

Notharchus
Birds of Central America
Birds of the Yucatán Peninsula
Birds of Mexico
Birds of Belize
Birds of Guatemala
Birds of El Salvador
Birds of Honduras
Birds of Nicaragua
Birds of Costa Rica
Birds of Panama
Birds of South America
Birds of Brazil
Birds of the Amazon Basin
Birds of Colombia
Birds of Venezuela
Birds of Ecuador
Birds of Bolivia
Birds of Peru
Birds described in 1856
Taxa named by Philip Sclater
Taxonomy articles created by Polbot