Nystalus chacuru
Silhouette: Matt Wilkins (Photo by Len Blumin) · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~80% in a week >90%
The white-eared puffbird (Nystalus chacuru) is a species of bird in the Bucconidae family, the puffbirds. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay and Peru, where it inhabits tropical and subtropical dry forests, subtropical and tropical moist forests, gallery forests, tropical savanna, and heavily degraded former forest.
Like some other puffbirds, the white-eared puffbird is a round, plump bird with a very narrow tail. The head is relatively large, with a dark brown barred crown, and an orange, black-tipped bill. The sit-and-wait feeding strategy, for insects or opportunistic prey, may explain this body shape.
The bird has a medium-brown back and wings, with dark rufous speckles and bars; white and black flecked on the breast. The upper breast is white, extending to a narrow-to-medium white collar around the neck. There is a distinctive, medium-sized white ear patch, which gives the species its common name, and that is surrounded by a dark ear patch. It has a medium-sized tail in dark brown and slightly graduated, with narrow, widely spaced buffy bars, and a pale tip. It measures about 21–22 cm (8.3–8.7 in) in length and weighs between 48–64 g. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Emas National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 2 | Serra da Canastra National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 3 | Chapada dos Guimarães National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 4 | Chapada Diamantina National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 5 | Iguaçu National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 6 | Iguazú National Park | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 7 | Itatiaia National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 8 | Serra dos Órgãos National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GüiráOga | 🇦🇷 Argentina |
Likely
About 50% of wildlife watchers report a White-eared Puffbird sighting in Emas National Park on a given day, based on 102 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 40th most-seen of the 187 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 80%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
May and September
In those months about 60% of wildlife watchers report a White-eared Puffbird in Emas National Park on a given day, against about 30% in November, the lowest month. Those are among Emas National Park's driest months, with about 30 mm of rain a month against 190 mm in January. April and December–February have too few records to rate.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most White-eared 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.
Yes
Of the 8 parks where we can rate White-eared Puffbird sightings, Emas National Park has the highest daily chance: about 50%. Next come Serra da Canastra National Park (Brazil, about 30%) and Chapada dos Guimarães National Park (Brazil, about 10%).
Same order: Piciformes
The closest relatives of the White-eared Puffbird that you can see in Emas National Park (order Piciformes, Woodpeckers and Allies) are Toco Toucan (about 60%), Campo Flicker (about 60%) and White Woodpecker (about 30%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the White-eared Puffbird is recorded against all the birds logged in Emas National Park (102 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.
