Notharchus pectoralis
Silhouette: Matt Wilkins (Photo by Len Blumin) · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
The black-breasted puffbird (Notharchus pectoralis) is a species of bird in the family Bucconidae, the puffbirds, nunlets, and nunbirds. It is found in Colombia, Ecuador, and Panama. The black-breasted puffbird is monotypic. It is closely related to the brown-banded puffbird (N. ordii) and some authors have proposed that they form a superspecies.
The black-breasted puffbird is 19 to 23 cm (7.5 to 9.1 in) long and weighs between 60 and 69 g (2.1 and 2.4 oz). The plumage is mostly glossy blue-black, with a white collar, cheeks, throat, and belly, a blue-black breast band, and a black tail with white tips on the feathers. The closed wing and rump show narrow white scallops. The flanks are dark gray with buffy marks. The heavy bill is black, as are the feet, and the iris of the eye is dark brown or red. The two sexes are the same, and the plumage of juvenile birds has not been described.
The black-breasted puffbird is found from the Canal Zone of Panama east into central Colombia and south through western Colombia into northwestern Ecuador. It inhabits humid lowland rainforest and secondary forest from sea level... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Soberanía National Park | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 2 | Utría National Natural Park | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 3 | San Lorenzo Protected Forest | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 4 | Darién National Park | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 5 | Chagres National Park | 🇵🇦 Panama |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Black-breasted Puffbird sighting in Darién National Park on a given day, based on 36 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 180th most-seen of the 397 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 40%, if each day is a fresh chance.
January
In that month about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Black-breasted Puffbird in Darién National Park on a given day, against under 5% in June–August and October–November, the lowest months. That is one of Darién National Park's driest months, with about 120 mm of rain against 450 mm in November.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Black-breasted Puffbird sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
4th of 5
Of the 5 parks where we can rate Black-breasted Puffbird sightings, Darién National Park ranks 4th at about 10%. The best odds are in Soberanía National Park (Panama, about 30%), Utría National Natural Park (Colombia, about 30%) and San Lorenzo Protected Forest (Panama, about 10%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Black-breasted Puffbird is recorded against all the birds logged in Darién National Park (36 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
