Russet-throated puffbird


The russet-throated puffbird is a near-passerine bird which breeds in tropical South America in northeastern Colombia and northwestern Venezuela. It is commonly named in Colombia as Bobito, Utta, Tol and Coludo.
The puffbirds are an insectivorous bird family related to the jacamars, but lacking the iridescent colours of that group. The russet-throated puffbird is fairly common in dry scrub and dry forest. It excavates a burrow in an arboreal termite colony and lays three white eggs.
The russet-throated puffbird is typically long and weighs. It is a dumpy bird with a large head, a long tail and a thick black hooked-tipped bill. The face is mainly white with a large yellow eye. The upperparts are brown with whitish spotting and white wing tips.
The underparts vary considerably. The two western subspecies have an off-white throat, buff underparts, and two dark brown chest bands. Some authorities split this genus into two species, the other being the two-banded puffbird, H. bicinctus. The three subspecies found in Colombia and in Venezuela east of the Andes have a single breast band, a deep rufous throat and whitish or buff underparts.
This insectivore hunts from a perch, sitting and watching, then flying down to catch insects, lizards and other small prey.
The russet-throated puffbird's call is a long series of woduk notes, often given synchronously by a pair of birds.