Black-fronted Nunbird

About the Black-fronted Nunbird

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. The black-fronted nunbird has two subspecies, the nominate M. n. nigrifrons and M. n. canescens. 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 →