Monasa nigrifrons
Silhouette: Matt Wilkins (Photo by Len Blumin) · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~80% in a week >90%
The black-fronted nunbird (Monasa nigrifrons) is a species of near-passerine bird in the family Bucconidae, the puffbirds, nunlets, and nunbirds. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. Some authors treat it, the black nunbird (M. atra) and the white-fronted nunbird (M. morphoeus) as a superspecies.
The black-fronted nunbird is 26 to 29 cm (10 to 11 in) long and weighs 68 to 98 g (2.4 to 3.5 oz). The adult of the nominate subspecies is mostly sooty black that is darkest around the bill (the "front"). The rear part of the body is blue-gray and the tail blue-black. The bill is red, the eye dark, and the legs black. M. n. canescens is slightly paler and grayer than the nominate. The juvenile of both is a dirty slate gray with irregular reddish marks.
The nominate subspecies of black-fronted nunbird is widespread in the Amazon Basin. It is found in southeastern Colombia, eastern Ecuador, eastern Peru, and much of Brazil. In Brazil it occurs north of the Amazon as far east as the Rio Negro and... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tambopata National Reserve | 🇵🇪 Peru | |
| 2 | Amacayacu National Natural Park | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 3 | Parque Estadual Encontro das Águas | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 4 | Manu National Park | 🇵🇪 Peru | |
| 5 | Anavilhanas National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 6 | Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve | 🇪🇨 Ecuador | |
| 7 | Chapada dos Guimarães National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 8 | Yasuní National Park | 🇪🇨 Ecuador | |
| 9 | Sierra de la Macarena National Park | 🇨🇴 Colombia |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Goiânia | 🇧🇷 Brazil |
Likely
About 40% of wildlife watchers report a Black-fronted Nunbird sighting in Parque Estadual Encontro das Águas on a given day, based on 847 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 55th most-seen of the 308 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, July–August and November
In those months about 50% of wildlife watchers report a Black-fronted Nunbird in Parque Estadual Encontro das Águas on a given day, against about 30% in September and October, the lowest months. Those are among Parque Estadual Encontro das Águas's driest months, with about 45 mm of rain a month against 190 mm in January. January to April have too few records to rate.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Black-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.
3rd of 9
Of the 9 parks where we can rate Black-fronted Nunbird sightings, Parque Estadual Encontro das Águas ranks 3rd at about 40%. The best odds are in Tambopata National Reserve (Peru, about 50%) and Amacayacu National Natural Park (Colombia, about 50%). All parks ranked.
Same order: Piciformes
The closest relatives of the Black-fronted Nunbird that you can see in Parque Estadual Encontro das Águas (order Piciformes, Woodpeckers and Allies) are Rufous-tailed Jacamar (about 50%), Toco Toucan (about 50%) and Little Woodpecker (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Black-fronted Nunbird is recorded against all the birds logged in Parque Estadual Encontro das Águas (847 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.
