This puffbird lives in humid forest from eastern Panama to western Colombia and northwestern Ecuador. It takes centipedes and scorpions among other prey and excavates a nest hole in an arboreal termite mound.
It is 19–23 cm long and glossy blue-black. A broad black band separates the white throat from the white patch behind the eye, and a narrow white collar crosses the nape. The sexes are similar.
It uses humid tropical forest and second growth, often near running water. Recorded prey include large centipedes, millipedes, scorpions, spiders, cockroaches and grasshoppers. During breeding, both adults excavate a hole about 18 cm deep in an arboreal termite mound.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.