The sooty-capped puffbird is about 18 cm (7.1 in) long. Its crown and nape are blackish to grayish black. It has a bold white supercilium that grays to the rear and a wide black line through and below the eye. Its upperparts and rather short tail are dark brown. It has a white chin, a wide black band across the chest, and a buffy white belly and vent with black scallops. The bill is black, the eye red, and the feet pale gray.
The sooty-capped puffbird is found only along the coast of Colombia from the Gulf of Urabá south to the San Juan River. It inhabits humid and wet primary and secondary forest and nearby unforested areas. It also occurs in scrublands. In all areas it tends to stay low in the vegetation. In elevation it ranges from sea level to 100 m (330 ft).
The sooty-capped puffbird hunts by sallying from a low perch to pluck large insects from foliage. Other details of its diet are not known.
The one known nest of a sooty-capped puffbird was in an arboreal termitarium. Both parents delivered food into it.
The IUCN has assessed the sooty-capped puffbird as Near Threatened. 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.
