Black-capped Sparrow vs Sierra Nevada Brushfinch

Black-capped Sparrow

Arremon abeillei

Small26 gWoodland

The black-capped sparrow is about 15 cm (5.9 in) long and weighs about 26 g (0.92 oz). The sexes have the same plumage. Adults have a mostly black head with a white throat and a wide white stripe from above the eye down the side of the nape. They often raise their crown feathers in a shaggy crest. Their upperparts and tail are blue-gray. Their wing coverts are blue-gray; some individuals have small pale tips on them that form two wing bars. Their flight feathers are dusky with blue-gray edges. Their throat is white with a black band below it across the upper breast. Voice: The black-capped sparrow's song is described as "a fast tseeét, tsi-tsi-tsi-tsi tseeét and as "a variable high series of thin, buzzy whistles and loose trills, for example: tsew tsew tsi-tetetetete". Its calls are a "very short, high-pitched tsik", a "high-pitched sibilant or lisping descending tseew", and a "high-pitched buzzy bzee". The first two are usually repeated a few times.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Recorded by Niels Krabbe · Song · Manabí: Río Ayampe, Ecuador · CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Allan Harris · CC0

Sierra Nevada Brushfinch

Arremon basilicus

Small42 gForest

The Sierra Nevada brushfinch is about 19 cm (7.5 in) long. The sexes have the same plumage. Adults have a black crown with a gray stripe in the middle, a gray supercilium that extends to the nape and continues behind the ear coverts. The rest of their face is black. Their upperparts, wings, and tail are olive-green. Their throat is white with a narrow black band below it. The center of their breast and belly is white and their sides, flanks, and vent are brownish olive. They have a dark chestnut-brown iris, a black bill, and blackish legs and feet. Voice: The Sierra Nevada brushfinch's song is "a high-pitched sibilant series of notes...with very fast delivery and almost nervous sound, this due also to inclusion of some quavering high-pitched whistles". Its call is "a sharp note".

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: johnyochum · CC BY 4.0

Photos and recordings are credited to their authors under the licence shown. Full profiles: Black-capped Sparrow and Sierra Nevada Brushfinch.