The white-necked puffbird (Notharchus hyperrhynchus) is a species of bird in the family Bucconidae, the puffbirds, nunlets, and nunbirds. It is found in Mexico, Central America, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela. Taxonomy and systematics During the second half of the twentieth century, the white-necked puffbird and what are now the buff-bellied puffbird (N. swainsoni) and Guianan puffbird (N. macrorhynchus) were treated as conspecific. As of 2021, the white-necked puffbird has two recognized subspecies, the nominate N. h. hyperrhynchus and N. h. paraensis. However, the population in El Salvador and northwestern Nicaragua has been discussed as a third subspecies, N. h. cryptoleucus, and the population in northeastern Colombia's Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta might also be a separate subspecies. Description The white-necked puffbird is about long and weighs .It is mostly glossy black. It has a broad white forehead, throat, upper breast, and most of the belly. A broad black band separates the last two, and a black stripe runs from the beak to the crown, passing through a dark red eye. The white of the throat extends as a fairly broad line around the nape. The lower flanks are barred black and white and the tail is black with narrow white tips to the feathers. The very large bill and the feet are black. The two subspecies differ only in the length of the bill, with that of N. h. paraensis being exceptionally long. Distribution and habitat The nominate subspecies of the white-necked puffbird is found from southern Mexico through Central America into northern Colombia and northwestern Venezuela, and separately in southwestern Colombia and western Ecuador. Another separate population is found in central Colombia, eastern Ecuador and Peru, northern Bolivia, and eastern Venezuela south and east into much of Amazonian Brazil. N. h. paraensis is found only in the Amazon River valley of the Brazilian state of Pará east of the Tapajós River. The species inhabits a wide variety of landscapes. It mostly occurs in semi-open environments such as secondary forest, the edges of primary forest, open woodlands, savanna, and clearings. It also occurs in the interior of tropical evergreen, semi-evergreen, and terra firme forest; the landward side of mangrove forest; and plantations. It is found at all levels of the forest, from the ground to the canopy. In elevation it mostly ranges from sea level to . Behavior Feeding The white-necked puffbird hunts from an open perch