song is "a series of 10–20 soft, whistled 'chyoi' or 'puwéep' notes (c. 2 per second), weak and hesitant at first, then a few at lower pitch and slower, ending with c. 4 inflected 'pchooii, pchooii, pchooii, peejowee' whistles". It is usually sung at dawn and sometimes sung as a duet. It also makes "faint wheezy whistles" in a dispute. Distribution and habitat The nominate subspecies of spotted puffbird is found from eastern Colombia east through Venezuela and the Guianas into Brazil and south in Brazil to the left (north) bank of the Amazon River. B. t. pulmentum is found from southeastern Colombia south through eastern Ecuador, northeastern Peru, and western Brazil into northeastern Bolivia. B. t. hypnaleus is found in Amazonian Brazil east of the Tapajós River. The species inhabits a variety of somewhat open landscapes such as várzea and igapó forests, mature secondary forest, savanna woodland, and gallery forest. It seldom occurs in the interior of dense forest. In elevation it generally ranges from sea level to but in Venezuela it usually occurs below . Behavior Feeding The spotted puffbird usually forages from a low perch, sallying out to pluck prey from foliage or bark. It sometimes follows army ant swarms. Its diet includes many types of insects, other invertebrates such as spiders and scorpions, small lizards, and mistletoe berries. Breeding The spotted puffbird's breeding season varies in different parts of its range, but in general is between March to September. It lays its clutch of two eggs in a chamber excavated in arboreal termitaria. Status The IUCN has assessed the spotted puffbird as being of Least Concern. However, though it has a very large range, its population has not been quantified and is believed to be decreasing. It is thought to be uncommon in most of its range but is easily overlooked and so might be more abundant. It occurs in several protected areas. References spotted puffbird Birds of the Amazon Basin Birds of the Guianas spotted puffbird spotted puffbird Birds of Brazil Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Taxobox binomials not recognized by IUCN