The Spot-backed Puffbird (Nystalus maculatus) is a species of bird

Bird

Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...

 in the Bucconidae family, the puffbird

Puffbird

The puffbirds and their relatives in the near passerine family Bucconidae are tropical birds breeding from South America up to Mexico.They are related to the jacamars, but lack the iridescent colours of that family. They are mainly brown, rufous or grey, with large heads and flattened bills with a...

s. It is found in eastern Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

, eastern Bolivia

Bolivia

Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...

, Paraguay

Paraguay

Paraguay , officially the Republic of Paraguay , is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to the east and northeast, and Bolivia to the northwest. Paraguay lies on both banks of the Paraguay River, which runs through the center of the...

 and northern Argentina

Argentina

Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

. It is found in various open to semi-open habitats, ranging from arid Caatinga

Caatinga

Caatinga is a type of vegetation, and an ecoregion characterized by this vegetation in the northeastern part of Brazil. The name "Caatinga" is a Tupi word meaning "white forest" or "white vegetation"...

 to semi-humid woodland along the lower Amazon River

Amazon River

The Amazon of South America is the second longest river in the world and by far the largest by waterflow with an average discharge greater than the next seven largest rivers combined...

. It is generally fairly common, and consequently considered to be of least concern

Least Concern

Least Concern is an IUCN category assigned to extant taxon or lower taxa which have been evaluated but do not qualify for any other category. As such they do not qualify as threatened, Near Threatened, or Conservation Dependent...

 by BirdLife International

BirdLife International

BirdLife International is a global Partnership of conservation organisations that strives to conserve birds, their habitats and global biodiversity, working with people towards sustainability in the use of natural resources...

 and IUCN. The two subspecies

Subspecies

Subspecies in biological classification, is either a taxonomic rank subordinate to species, ora taxonomic unit in that rank . A subspecies cannot be recognized in isolation: a species will either be recognized as having no subspecies at all or two or more, never just one...

are sometimes considered separate species, the Caatinga Puffbird (Nystalus (maculatus) maculatus) in the northern part of its range, and the Chaco Puffbird or Streak-bellied Puffbird (Nystalus (maculatus) striatipectus) in the southern part of its range.

External links

• Spot-backed Puffbird videos on the Internet Bird Collection
• Spot-backed Puffbird photo gallery VIREO
• Article & synopsis arthurgrosset–"South American Birds"
• Photo-High Res; Article tropicalbirding–"Brazil Birds"
• Photo-High Res (Profile View)
• Photo-Medium Res; Article