Neotropical bellbird
genus of birds
Neotropical bellbird (or simply bellbird) is the common name given to passerine birds of the genus Procnias, found in the Neotropics. They are members of the cotinga family. They are all restricted to tropical or subtropical humid forested regions, often in low mountains or foothills. As indicated by their common name, they all have extremely loud calls that are reminiscent of a metal bell being rung.
Three of the four species are restricted to South America, while the last, the three-wattled bellbird, is restricted to southern Central America.
They are strongly sexually dimorphic. Males have an at least partially white plumage, and facial wattles or bare facial skin. Females lack the wattles/bare facial skin, and are overall olive with yellowish streaks below.
Taxonomy
The genus Procnias was introduced in 1811 by the German zoologist Johann Karl Wilhelm Illiger. The name comes from Greek mythology, Procne was an Athenian princess who was metamorphosed into a swallow.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Neotropical bellbird” as genus of birds. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
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The subject matters to the science & nature register because the source frames it as genus of birds. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Stable identifiers, scientific names and standards terminology offer the best bridge between this overview and specialist evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 1, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q1079212. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1811.
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This entry incorporates text from “Neotropical bellbird” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.