[2] The moustached puffbird is monotypic, though the population in southwestern Colombia might merit treatment as a subspecies.

Both sexes have bristles around the base of the large bill, and white "whiskers", which are actually tufts of feathers.

The adult male is drab brown above with white to buffy spots on the back and the wing coverts.

The belly is white and the flanks dull brown with whitish bars and streaks.

[4] The moustached puffbird appears to breed between May and August in Venezuela and February to September in Colombia.

It nests in a hole excavated in an earth bank, but no other details of its breeding phenology are known.