Monasa morphoeus
Silhouette: Matt Wilkins (Photo by Len Blumin) · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~60%
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 |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a White-fronted Nunbird sighting in Yasuní National Park on a given day, based on 394 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 135th most-seen of the 533 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 60%, if each day is a fresh chance.
May–June and August
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a White-fronted Nunbird in Yasuní National Park on a given day, against under 5% in November, the lowest month.
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.
4th of 13
Of the 13 parks where we can rate White-fronted Nunbird sightings, Yasuní National Park ranks 4th at about 10%. The best odds are in Darién National Park (Panama, about 20%), Tambopata National Reserve (Peru, about 20%) and Sierra de la Macarena National Park (Colombia, about 10%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the White-fronted Nunbird is recorded against all the birds logged in Yasuní National Park (394 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.
