White-chested puffbird

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White-chested puffbird
Malacoptila fusca.jpg

Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification edit
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Piciformes
Family: Bucconidae
Genus: Malacoptila
Species:
M. fusca
Binomial name
Malacoptila fusca
(Gmelin, 1788)
Malacoptila fusca map.svg

The white-chested puffbird (Malacoptila fusca) is a species of near-passerine bird in the family Bucconidae, the puffbirds, nunlets, and nunbirds. It is one of seven species in the genus Malacoptila. It is found in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela.[2][3]

Taxonomy and systematics[]

The white-chested puffbird and the semicollared puffbird (M. semicincta) were for a time considered conspecific but are now treated as a superspecies.[4] It is monotypic, though a subspecies M. s. venezuelae was proposed in the mid 1900s.[2][5]

Description[]

The white-chested puffbird is about 18 cm (7.1 in) long and weighs about 44 g (1.6 oz). The head, upperparts, and wing coverts are dark brown, with the crown being blackish brown. Pale shafts to the feathers give a streaked appearance. The tail is warm brown. It has a whitish "whisker" and chin and a thin white crescent across the upper breast. The underparts are dirty white or buff with brown streaks and mottling. The bill is yellow-orange with a black tip, the eye reddish brown, yellow, or red, and the legs and feet yellow olive to pale olive.[5]

Distribution and habitat[]

The white-chested puffbird is found in two large disjunct areas. One is from eastern Colombia and southwestern Venezuela south through eastern Ecuador and central Peru as far as the valley of the Apurímac River. The other is in the lower Amazon Basin from the Guianas east and south into Brazil's Amazonas and Pará states. It inhabits the understory of tropical evergreen forest, both terra firme and várzea. It is a bird of the lowlands. In elevation it ranges up to 200 m (660 ft) in Venezuela, 600 m (2,000 ft) in Colombia, 900 m (3,000 ft) in Ecuador (though locally to 1,200 m (3,900 ft)), and 1,500 m (4,900 ft) in Peru.[5]

Behavior[]

Feeding[]

The white-chested puffbird hunts from a perch several meters above the ground, remaining motionless for long periods before sallying to capture prey on the ground or from vegetation. It then usually flies to a different perch. It sometimes follows army ant swarms. Its diet has not been described in detail, but it is probably mostly insects with some small invertebrates.[5]

Breeding[]

Essentially nothing is known about the white-chested puffbird's breeding phenology. It is thought to nest in a burrow in the ground as does its close relative the white-whiskered puffbird (M. panamensis).

Dickcissel male perched on a metal pole singing, with neck stretched and beak open.

Songs and calls
Listen to white-chested puffbird on xeno-canto

Vocalization[]

The white-chested puffbird's song is "a long, descending musical trill: tree'e'e'e'e'e'e'e'e'ew." Its calls include "a descending, high, mewing whistle peeww."[5]

Status[]

The IUCN has assessed the white-chested puffbird as being of Least Concern. It has a large range, and though its population size has not been determined it is believed to be stable. No specific threats have been identified.[1]

References[]

  1. ^ a b BirdLife International (2016). "White-chested Puffbird Malacoptila fusca". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016. Retrieved 3 November 2021.
  2. ^ a b Gill, F.; Donsker, D.; Rasmussen, P. (July 2021). "IOC World Bird List (v 11.2)". Retrieved July 14, 2021.
  3. ^ 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
  4. ^ 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 August 24, 2021
  5. ^ a b c d e Schulenberg, T. S. and H. Batcheller (2020). White-chested Puffbird (Malacoptila fusca), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (T. S. Schulenberg, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.whcpuf1.01 retrieved November 3, 2021

External links[]

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