White-eared Puffbird

Overview

The Nystalus chacuru is a species of bird within the Bucconidae family, commonly known as the white-eared puffbird. It is classified as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List and is found across several South American countries, including Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, and Peru.

Identification

• A round, plump bird with a relatively large head and a very narrow tail, measuring 21–22 cm in length and weighing 48–64 g.
• Distinctive medium-sized white ear patch surrounded by a dark ear patch, which gives the species its common name.
• Features an orange, black-tipped bill and a dark brown barred crown.
• Plumage includes a medium-brown back with dark rufous speckles and bars, a white upper breast extending to a collar, and white and black flecking on the lower breast.

Habitat

Inhabits tropical and subtropical dry and moist forests, gallery forests, tropical savanna, and heavily degraded former forest. Its range spans from eastern Peru and central Brazil south to Paraguay, Bolivia, and northeastern Argentina. In Peru, it is rare but local, favouring dry forests and scrub in the Valleys of Mantaro, Apurímac, and Urubamba at altitudes between 1000 and 2200 m.

Diet

Feeds opportunistically on arthropods and small vertebrates, including lizards, amphibians (even poisonous frogs), and small marsupials, commonly taken from the ground. Invertebrate prey includes social wasps, beetles, and other large insects caught in mid-air, as well as non-volant animals like insect larvae, millipedes, centipedes, scorpions, velvet worms, and crabs.

Did you know?

The species is known to consume poisonous frogs as part of its opportunistic diet.