A compact and medium-sized bird, brown on top and beige underneath, with yellowish eyes, a thick black bill, white (or whitish) ear covers, and a pronounced black pectoral band. The latter may vary geographically; western populations have one band, while eastern ones have two. The color of the throat also varies, ranging from brown to rufous. It is often found in pairs, perching silently. It is common in both dry and wet lowlands, inhabiting shrubby areas, dry forests, mangroves, and gallery forests. It is very vocal, singing alone or in duets, with a noisy, rapid series of “guduc” that can last up to thirty seconds. It is the only brown puffbird with white pectoral band(s) and ear covers.
Order: Pictiformes | Family: Bucconidae
Scientific name: Hypnelus bicinctus
Common names: búho, bobito, buco, two-banded puffbird
Conservation status: Least concern (LC)
Best season for Two-banded puffbird viewing: All year round
Description
Its upper parts are basically dark brown, with paler speckling or mottling on the coverts. The ear covers are quite light, and the throat is orange, below which there is a narrow white band and a wider black band across the chest, giving it one of its less elegant common names, “middle wheel.” The rest of its underparts are whitish, specifically the belly and vent, with variable barring on the flanks.
Distribution
In general terms, the great black hawk is found from northern Mexico southward, west of the Andes, to northwestern Peru and, east of the Andes, to northern Argentina.
Distribution
The two-banded puffbird is found in the lowlands of northern Colombia, southward to the Magdalena Valley and into southern Tolima. To the east, its range extends to the Maracaibo Basin in northern Venezuela.
