Buff-bellied Puffbird Notharchus swainsoni Scientific name definitions

An Atlantic Forest endemic, which is found from southeast Brazil to eastern Paraguay and extreme northeast Argentina, the Buff-bellied Puffbird was formerly considered conspecific with the White-necked Puffbird (Notharchus hyperrhynchus) and the Guianan Puffbird (Notharchus macrorhynchos). The present species is easily distinguished from either of the latter two species by its pale buffy-rufous ventral region, below the black breast band, vocalizations, and also its different oestology. This puffbird is generally found in lowland forest regions, but it regularly ventures into clearings and other disturbed areas, and like others of its genus the species still-hunts insects and small vertebrates from a high perch. Although the Buff-bellied Puffbird is not considered globally threatened, it is generally rather uncommon over much of its range, except perhaps in eastern Paraguay.

23·5 cm; 72–75·6 g (1 Alvarenga, H.M.F., Höfling, E. and Silveira, L.F. (2002). Notharchus swainsoni (Gray, 1846) (Bucconidae) é um espécie válida. Ararajuba. 10(1): 73-77. Close ). Black upperparts glossed green, feathers buffy-edged; very narrow white forehead  , white throat and upper breast  , greyish-white sides of face and thin nape-collar; black breastband, pale rufous abdomen  , grey patches on sides  ; bill black; iris red, brown or straw-coloured; feet black. Differs from very similar N. macrorhynchos mainly in green gloss above, pale rufous belly with much more limited, greyer flank marks, greyer face and hindcollar, narrower black breastband, smaller bill. Immature  duller; pectoral band may be incomplete; iris brown.

SE Brazil (S Bahia and Espírito Santo to Santa Catarina), E Paraguay and NE Argentina (Misiones).

Lowland humid forest, and logged and tall secondary forest, up to c. 900 m in Bahia (3 Silveira, L. F., P. F. Develey, J. F. Pacheco, and B. M. Whitney (2005). Avifauna of the Serra das Lontras–Javi montane complex, Bahia, Brazil. Cotinga 24:45–54. Close ).

Insects , including Orthoptera, Hymenoptera, Hemiptera, Coleoptera and Lepidoptera, and their larvae  ; also small vertebrates, some vegetable matter. Investigates army-ant swarms. Still-hunts from tops of tall bare trees.

A descending sequence of whistles  , varying in rhythm, “ui-ui---dibule-dibule...”.

Not globally threatened. In Brazil, range recently shown to be wider than thought, in S reaching W to Mato Grosso do Sul, and in N now known from S Bahia (3 Silveira, L. F., P. F. Develey, J. F. Pacheco, and B. M. Whitney (2005). Avifauna of the Serra das Lontras–Javi montane complex, Bahia, Brazil. Cotinga 24:45–54. Close ); relatively rare in São Paulo state, uncommon in Paraná, where range recently extended and has been found in several protected areas (4 Oliveira, R.C. and Arasaki, M.O. (2011). Novos registros de Notharchus swainsoni (Galbuliformes: Bucconidae) na região noroeste do Estado do Paraná e ampliação da área de ocorrência no estado. Atualidades Orn.. 162: 6-7. Close ); frequently encountered in E Paraguay; generally rare in Argentina (Misiones), though regularly recorded in Iguazú area.