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. Taxonomy and systematics The white-fronted nunbird is assigned these seven subspecies: M. m. grandior Pl Sclater & Salvin (1868) M. m. fidelis Nelson (1912) M. m. pallescens Cassin (1860) M. m. sclateri Ridgway (1912) M. m. peruana PL Sclater (1856) M. m. rikeri Ridgway (1912) M. m. morphoeus Hahn & Küster (1823) 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. Description The white-fronted nunbird is long. Birds in Central America weigh , those in the eastern Amazon , those in Venezuela , and those in Bolivia . The adult of the nominate subspecies is mostly dark grayish black, somewhat grayer on the underparts. Its forehead ("front") and chin are white. Its bill is orange-red, the eye brown, and the legs black. Immatures have a buffy-rufous face and their body feathers have a brownish tinge and edges. The other subspecies of white-fronted nunbird differ in size, the darkness of their plumage, and the extent of white on the face. Northern birds are larger than southern ones. M. m. sclateri has a black chin, little contrast between the upper- and underparts, and paler wing coverts than the nominate. M. m. pallescens is similar to sclateri but paler overall with more contrast, and the white patch on the forehead is the largest of all subspecies. M. m. fidelis is like pallescens but slightly darker and with a whitish chin. M. m. grandior is slightly darker than fidelis and with little contrast. M. m. rikeri is slightly paler than the nominate and M. m. peruana even paler. Distribution and habitat The subspecies of white-fronted nunbird are distributed thus: M. m. grandior, eastern Honduras and eastern Nicaragua through eastern Costa Rica into western Panama M. m. fidelis, the Caribbean slope of eastern Panama and northwestern Colombia as far east as Córdoba Department M. m. pallescens, southeastern Panama into western Colombia as far south as the upper San Juan River M. m. sclateri, Colombia's Magdalena Valley