Monasa morphoeus
Silhouette: Matt Wilkins (Photo by Len Blumin) · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~40% in a week ~70%
The white-fronted nunbird (Monasa morphoeus) is a species of near-passerine bird in the family Bucconidae, the puffbirds, nunlets, and nunbirds. It is found Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, and Venezuela.
The first four subspecies were at one time treated as individual species. Other authors included rikeri in the nominate morpheous. Birds in northeastern Bolivia were suggested as a separate subspecies but remain included in peruana. The white-fronted nunbird, black-fronted nunbird (M. nigrifrons), and black nunbird (M. morphoeus) are generally treated as a superspecies.
The white-fronted nunbird is 21 to 29 cm (8.3 to 11 in) long. Birds in Central America weigh 90 to 101 g (3.2 to 3.6 oz), those in the eastern Amazon 77 to 87 g (2.7 to 3.1 oz), those in Venezuela 63 to 80 g (2.2 to 2.8 oz), and those in... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Darién National Park | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 2 | Tambopata National Reserve | 🇵🇪 Peru | |
| 3 | Sierra de la Macarena National Park | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 4 | Yasuní National Park | 🇪🇨 Ecuador | |
| 5 | Manu National Park | 🇵🇪 Peru | |
| 6 | Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve | 🇪🇨 Ecuador | |
| 7 | Anavilhanas National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 8 | Arenal Volcano National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 9 | Braulio Carrillo National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 10 | Tortuguero National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 11 | Amacayacu National Natural Park | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 12 | Cahuita National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 13 | Tenorio Volcano National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Belém | 🇧🇷 Brazil |
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report a White-fronted Nunbird sighting in Darién National Park on a given day, based on 141 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 61st most-seen of the 397 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 40%, and over a week to about 70%, if each day is a fresh chance.
February and March
In those months about 30% of wildlife watchers report a White-fronted Nunbird in Darién National Park on a given day, against under 5% in October, the lowest month. Those are among Darién National Park's driest months, with about 130 mm of rain a month against 450 mm in November.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most White-fronted Nunbird sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Yes
Of the 13 parks where we can rate White-fronted Nunbird sightings, Darién National Park has the highest daily chance: about 20%. Next come Tambopata National Reserve (Peru, about 20%) and Sierra de la Macarena National Park (Colombia, about 10%).
Same family: Bucconidae
The closest relatives of the White-fronted Nunbird that you can see in Darién National Park (family Bucconidae, Puffbirds) are Pied Puffbird (about 20%), White-whiskered Puffbird (about 10%) and Barred Puffbird (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the White-fronted Nunbird is recorded against all the birds logged in Darién National Park (141 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.
