Bird Guide

Black-bellied Wren vs Whiskered Wren

Black-bellied Wren (Pheugopedius fasciatoventris)

Black-bellied Wren

Pheugopedius fasciatoventris

Small24 gForest

Male black-bellied wrens weigh 23.5 to 34.5 g (0.83 to 1.22 oz) and females 19.5 to 28.5 g (0.69 to 1.01 oz). Adults of all three subspecies have a rich chestnut back and tail; the latter has black bars. They have a white supercilium of varying size above a grayish face and are white on the chin, throat, and breast. All three have a black belly, but that of P. f. melanogaster is unmarked while those of the other two subspecies have thin white bars. Voice: Both sexes of the black-bellied wren have large song repertoires; one male was recorded with 38 different songs and a female with 19. Multiple examples are available at Xeno-canto and Cornell's Macaulay Library .

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Anthony Batista · CC BY 4.0
Whiskered Wren (Pheugopedius mystacalis)

Whiskered Wren

Pheugopedius mystacalis

Small29 gForest

The whiskered wren is 16 cm (6.3 in) long; a specimen from Venezuela weighed 29 g (1.0 oz). The nominate adult has a grayish-black crown, olivaceous gray nape, bright chestnut shoulders, back, and rump, and a reddish brown tail with dull black bars. It has a grayish white supercilium, a black line through the eye, blackish cheeks with a white line below and a black malar stripe below that. The chin and throat are off-white, the chest gray darkening to olivaceous gray on the belly, and the flanks reddish gray. Voice: Both sexes of whiskered wren sing in duet, "a splendid series of loud gurgling whistles" . The call is "a deep throaty 'bong bong'" .

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Sonogram of the Whiskered Wren
Recorded by Rosa Elena Albornoz · Song · San Antonio De Los Altos (near Parroquia Macarao), Municipio Los Salias, Miranda, Venezuela · CC0
Photo: Adam Jackson · CC0

Where you might meet both

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Photos and recordings are credited to their authors under the licence shown. Full profiles: Black-bellied Wren and Whiskered Wren.