Malacoptila panamensis
Silhouette: Matt Wilkins (Photo by Len Blumin) · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~40% in a week ~70%
The white-whiskered puffbird (Malacoptila panamensis), also called the white-whiskered soft-wing or brown puffbird, is a near-passerine bird in the family Bucconidae, the puffbirds, nunlets, and nunbirds. It is found from southeastern Mexico through Central America (except El Salvador), Colombia, and Ecuador into Peru.
It is thought to form a superspecies with the moustached puffbird (M. mystacalis) and black-streaked puffbird (M. fulvogularis). The white-whiskered puffbird is about 18 cm (7.1 in) long with an average weight of about 43 g (1.5 oz). Unlike most puffbirds, the male and female have different plumages. Both sexes have bristles around the base of the large bill, and white "whiskers", which are actually tufts of feathers. The nominate adult male's upperparts are brown to chestnut brown. The forecrown has narrow buff or tawny streaks and most of the rest of the upperparts have buff or tawny spots. The tail is chesnut brown. Its lores... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Carara National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 2 | Soberanía National Park | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 3 | Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary | 🇧🇿 Belize | |
| 4 | Chagres National Park | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 5 | Corcovado National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 6 | Darién National Park | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 7 | Montes Azules Biosphere Reserve | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 8 | San Lorenzo Protected Forest | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 9 | Cahuita National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 10 | Braulio Carrillo National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 11 | Tikal National Park | 🇬🇹 Guatemala | |
| 12 | Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 13 | Farallones de Cali National Natural Park | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 14 | Piedras Blancas National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 15 | Tortuguero National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 16 | Parque Natural Metropolitano | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 17 | Machalilla National Park | 🇪🇨 Ecuador | |
| 18 | Marino Ballena National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 19 | Arenal Volcano National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 20 | Manuel Antonio National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 21 | Tenorio Volcano National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 22 | La Amistad International Park (Panama) | 🇵🇦 Panama |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a White-whiskered Puffbird sighting in Darién National Park on a given day, based on 81 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 90th 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.
April, June and November
In those months about 30% of wildlife watchers report a White-whiskered Puffbird in Darién National Park on a given day, against under 5% in October, the lowest month.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most White-whiskered Puffbird sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
6th of 22
Of the 22 parks where we can rate White-whiskered Puffbird sightings, Darién National Park ranks 6th at about 10%. The best odds are in Carara National Park (Costa Rica, about 30%), Soberanía National Park (Panama, about 30%) and Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary (Belize, about 20%).
Same family: Bucconidae
The closest relatives of the White-whiskered Puffbird that you can see in Darién National Park (family Bucconidae, Puffbirds) are White-fronted Nunbird (about 20%), Pied Puffbird (about 20%) 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-whiskered Puffbird is recorded against all the birds logged in Darién National Park (81 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.
