The puffbirds and their relatives in the family Bucconidae are tropical tree-dwelling insectivorous birds that are found from South America up to Mexico.

[1] Their loose, abundant plumage and short tails makes them look stout and puffy, giving rise to the English name of the family.

The family was classified as part of the Piciformes by Alexander Wetmore in his work A Systematic Classification for the Birds of the World (1930, revised in 1951 and 1960).

[4] The placement of the combined puffbird and jacamar lineage was in question, with some bone and muscle features suggesting they may be more closely related to the Coraciiformes.

[5] Per Ericson and colleagues, in analysing genomic DNA, confirmed that puffbirds and jacamars were sister groups and their place in Piciformes.

[9][10] The number of species in each family is taken from the list maintained by Frank Gill, Pamela C. Rasmussen and David Donsker on behalf of the International Ornithological Committee (IOC).

[12] A fossil right wing recovered from Lower Eocene beds in Lincoln County, Wyoming, was initially classified as a puffbird and given the name Primobucco mcgrewi.

[13] The discovery of more complete specimens, including twelve in 2010, shows that Primobucco was instead an early type of roller.

[16] Puffbirds are sit-and-wait hunters,[17] perching unmoving for long periods, while watching for insect prey.