White-necked Puffbird

The White-necked Puffbird is a chunky, large-headed member of the puffbird family (Bucconidae), boldly patterned in black and white: glossy black upperparts and a black breast band set against a crisp white collar, throat, and underparts. Like other puffbirds, it has a stout, hook-tipped bill and a characteristically inert, statue-like posture, often perching for long periods on an exposed high branch before making a sudden sally after prey.

Key field marks

• Large head and heavy, hook-tipped black bill.
• Glossy black upperparts with a white collar around the nape.
• White underparts crossed by a black breast band.
• Upright, motionless perching posture on high open branches.

Similar species

Other black-and-white puffbirds in the region (e.g., Pied Puffbird) are much smaller. The White-necked Puffbird's large size, heavy bill, and prominent white nape collar combined with a black breast band are diagnostic.

This species favors forest edge, clearings, gallery forest, and semi-open woodland with scattered tall trees, rather than closed forest interior. It ranges from Mexico through Central America and across much of northern and central South America to Bolivia and Brazil. It is a non-migratory resident found from lowlands up to about 1,200-1,500 m.

Voice

A thin, high whistled call, sometimes a rolling trill, given infrequently from a high perch.

Feeding

White-necked Puffbirds sit motionless on exposed high branches for extended periods, scanning for prey before sallying out in fast, direct flights to snatch large insects, cicadas, and occasionally small lizards, returning to the same or a nearby perch to subdue and swallow prey.

Nesting and breeding

Pairs excavate a nest burrow in an active arboreal termite nest or occasionally in soft, rotten wood. Both adults are thought to share incubation and provisioning of the young.