Bird Guide

American Pygmy Kingfisher vs Green Kingfisher

American Pygmy Kingfisher (Chloroceryle aenea)

American Pygmy Kingfisher

Chloroceryle aenea

Tiny14 gRiverine

The American pygmy kingfisher is about 13 cm (5.1 in) long. Males weigh 10 to 16 g (0.35 to 0.56 oz) and females 12 to 16 g (0.42 to 0.56 oz). It has the typical kingfisher shape, with a shaggy crest and long heavy bill. The bill is black with some pale yellow at the base of the mandible and its legs and feet are pinkish to light gray. Males of the nominate subspecies have a dark glossy green head and upperparts with a golden wash separated by a narrow rufous collar. Their tail is a bluer green. They have black lores with a thin rufous line in front of the eye. Voice: The American pygmy kingfisher makes a "eak, repeated 'tik' or 'dzit, tsweek' sometimes faster as a rattle or chatter". What is thought to be its song is "a series of musical chirps."

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Vincent A. Vos · CC BY 4.0
Green Kingfisher (Chloroceryle americana)

Green Kingfisher

Chloroceryle americana

Small34 gRiverine

The green kingfisher is about 20 cm (8 in) long and weighs about 35 to 40 g (1.2 to 1.4 oz); females are larger and heavier than males. Birds in the northern and southern parts of its range, and those west of the Andes, are larger and heavier than the others, but the differences tend to be clinal. The species has the typical kingfisher shape with long heavy bill (heaviest in Trinidad and Tobago); in contrast to many other kingfishers, however, it does not have an obvious crest. The bill is black with some horn color at the base of the mandible and its legs and feet are dark gray.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Sonogram of the Green Kingfisher
Recorded by Niels Krabbe · Call · Esmeraldas: Same, Ecuador · CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: dany13 · CC BY 2.0

Where you might meet both

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Photos and recordings are credited to their authors under the licence shown. Full profiles: American Pygmy Kingfisher and Green Kingfisher.