[3] Some authors placed the sooty-capped puffbird in genus Nystactes during the first half of the 20th century, but it was returned to Bucco by most classifications after that.

[6] The sooty-capped puffbird is found only along the coast of Colombia from the Gulf of Urabá south to the San Juan River.

[6] The sooty-capped puffbird hunts by sallying from a low perch to pluck large insects from foliage.

The sooty-capped puffbird's song is "a long series of 20-40 whistles, starting almost at a trilling pace, then becoming more drawn-out and accentuated".

Its population is declining "moderately rapidly" because of habitat losses primarily to logging and conversion to agriculture, but human settlement and cattle ranching also contribute.