White-fronted Nunbird

How to find it

Listen first: loud squawking and rollicking calls can lead you to the group and to other flocking species with it. It is more active and easier to see than other puffbirds, moving through the sub-canopy with frequent sallies after large insects and small lizards. Check mixed flocks of medium-sized birds, since it often forages among them. Scan open mid-level branches for a still, upright bird with an orange bill. The Turrialba area is a gateway to its range.

How to recognise it

Look for a fairly large gray-black bird with an upright posture and a flat head.

The marks to learn:

- White forehead and chin.

- Bright red-orange bill.

- Sexes look alike.

- Young birds have a buffy-rufous face instead of white.

In Costa Rica it is the largest of the five puffbird family species, so size helps as well as colour. No other Costa Rican puffbird is as large or has a white forehead with a bright orange-red bill. It often sits on an open branch at middle or upper levels of the forest, where that bill stands out.

Behaviour and diet

Nunbirds travel in groups of about 4 to 8 birds and often join other flocks that are foraging. A bird often sits still on an open branch for long periods while scanning for prey. It then launches out with surprising agility and usually returns to the same perch to eat. It catches insects, spiders, frogs and small lizards from foliage.

The nest is a sloping tunnel in level forest ground with a leaf-lined chamber at the end. Three to six adults tend one nest.

Where it lives

This is a bird of tall humid forest, where it moves through the canopy. It also uses partly open shady areas and tall secondary growth nearby. In Costa Rica it lives in the lowlands and foothills of the Caribbean slope. In some places, mostly in the southeast, it reaches up to about 700 m. It is rare or absent in the drier lowlands south of Lake Nicaragua.

When to see it

Breeding in Costa Rica is given as March to May by one account and December to May by another.

Similar birds

Among Costa Rica's puffbirds, none is as large or has a white forehead with a bright orange-red bill. The others are the White-necked, Pied and White-whiskered Puffbirds and the Lanceolated Monklet.

Names and lore in Costa Rica

The official Costa Rican Spanish name is Monja Frentiblanca, with Julío added as a second name. Another Costa Rican list gives Julio, monja frentiblanca.

Status and conservation

The AOCR list marks it as a resident (R), and it is a common resident wherever forest remains on the Caribbean slope.

Photography tips

Its habit of sitting still on an open branch at middle or upper levels, and returning to the same perch after each sally, gives a chance for a steady shot. Follow the calls to find the group.