It is found in forests in the Guianas, with small numbers in Venezuela and the Brazilian state of Pará, as well as Trinidad and Tobago and Panama.

As in two other members of Procnias, the males have wattles, fleshy structures akin to the red skin flap that hangs from the throat of roosters.

The male is unlikely to be mistaken for anything else, but the female resembles the bearded bellbird (Procnias averano); that bird has a dusky olive crown and black streaking on the throat.

[2] According to a study published in 2019, the white bellbird produces the loudest call ever recorded in a bird, reaching 125 dB(A) (at equivalent 1m distance).

[5] The range of the white bellbird includes parts of Brazil, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela.