The Buff-bellied Puffbird lives in Atlantic Forest from southeastern Brazil through eastern Paraguay to northeastern Argentina, including forest and Cerrado edges.
It has a black crown, back, and breast band, a white collar and throat, a buff-to-rufous belly, and gray bars on the flanks.
It is insectivorous; breeding observations in Paraguay recorded adults bringing insects to the chicks.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.