Rufous-necked Puffbird Malacoptila rufa Scientific name definitions

The poorly known and frequently uncommon Rufous-necked Puffbird is widely distributed across southern Amazonia, from around the mouth of the Amazon in Brazil as far west as northern Bolivia and northeastern Peru. The species sometimes joins mixed species flocks, and has also been observed attending army ant swarms. It is a rather distinctive member of the genus Malacoptila, on account of the broad rufous collar and loral spot, but in any case there is only limited geographical overlap with just one congeneric, the heavily streaked White-chested Puffbird (Malacoptila fusca). In areas of overlap, in northeastern Peru, Rufous-necked Puffbird replaces the latter in seasonally flooded forests, but over the rest of its range Rufous-necked Puffbird also is  frequently found in terra firme forests.