The chestnut-capped puffbird is a species of bird in the family Bucconidae, the puffbirds, nunlets, and nunbirds. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela.
Region
Amazon Basin
Typical Environment
Occurs in lowland evergreen forest across the Amazon and parts of the Orinoco drainage, including terra firme and seasonally flooded várzea. Favors forest edges, light gaps, and riverine corridors, but also uses tall secondary growth. Typically seen perched quietly in the midstory or lower canopy, often along forest trails and stream margins. It is present from eastern Andean foothills eastward through Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Venezuela, and much of northern Brazil.
Altitude Range
0–1200 m
Climate Zone
Tropical
Ease of Keeping
Beginner friendly: 1/5
The chestnut-capped puffbird is a quiet, sit-and-wait predator that often perches motionless for long periods in the Amazonian midstory. Its rich chestnut cap and contrasting black mask with a pale collar make it distinctive in good light. Like many puffbirds, it nests in burrows excavated in earthen banks or in arboreal termitaria. It is widespread across much of the Amazon Basin and is generally considered common where suitable habitat persists.
Temperament
solitary and territorial
Flight Pattern
short rapid wingbeats with brief sallies from a perch
Social Behavior
Usually encountered singly or in pairs, sitting quietly for long periods before making short sallies to capture prey. Pairs maintain territories and may duet. Nesting is in burrows excavated in earthen banks or within arboreal termitaria, where both sexes participate in excavation and incubation.
Migratory Pattern
Resident
Song Description
Vocalizations are soft, hollow whistles delivered singly or in a short series, often at dawn. Calls can include descending notes and mellow, tooting phrases. It may remain silent for long periods outside peak vocal hours.
Plumage
Compact, puffed appearance with a rich chestnut cap, bold black mask, and pale buffy to whitish collar. Upperparts are brown to dusky with fine mottling; underparts buffy with subtle barring or mottling on the flanks. Bill is stout and slightly hooked; tail often shows faint barring.
Diet
Primarily consumes large insects such as beetles, orthopterans, and mantids, as well as spiders and other arthropods. Occasionally takes small vertebrates like tiny lizards. It hunts from a fixed perch, scanning carefully and then sallying to snatch prey from foliage or the ground. Prey is often subdued by pounding against the perch before swallowing.
Preferred Environment
Feeds along forest edges, light gaps, and streamside corridors where visibility from perches is good. Often uses midstory perches 2–10 meters above ground, including open branches and vine tangles.
