Black-headed Nightingale-Thrush vs Ruddy-capped Nightingale-Thrush

Black-headed Nightingale-Thrush

Catharus mexicanus

Small33 gForest

The black-headed nightingale-thrush is 15 to 16.5 cm (5.9 to 6.5 in) long and weighs about 30 g (1.1 oz). Adult males of the nominate subspecies C. m. mexicanus have a black crown and a dark gray face with a bright orange eye-ring. Their upperparts are olive-brown. Their throat is white with faint dark streaks, their breast and flanks pale grayish brown, and their belly and vent white. Adult females are similar to males but have a browner head and breast. Subspecies C. m. cantator is slightly smaller than the nominate with a much grayer face and throat and an olive wash on the breast. C. m. Voice: The black-headed nightingale-thrush sings mostly at dawn, dusk, and in the afternoon. Its song is "a series of rapid, thin, flute-like but slightly tinny, fuzzy phrases...e.g. dleet-dloo-dlee-dlee". Its calls include a "harsh complaining upslurred mew, rreahr, meahh or dzeeeet", a "hard dry rattle or trill when agitated", a "soft blurred pseeer", a "slow plaintive chowrr", "grrr", and "meww".

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Andre Knocklein · CC BY 4.0

Ruddy-capped Nightingale-Thrush

Catharus frantzii

Small29 gForest

The ruddy-capped nightingale-thrush is about 15 to 18 cm (5.9 to 7.1 in) long and weighs about 30 g (1.1 oz). The sexes have the same plumage. Adults of the nominate subspecies C. f. frantzii have a rich rufous-brown to russet crown and a grayish face that sometimes has an olive tinge. Their back and rump are brownish olive with a russet wash and their uppertail coverts are deep rufous-brown. Their wings are mostly the same color as the back and rump but with silvery white undersides on the flight feathers. Their tail is deep rufous-brown. Their chin and throat are whitish with dark flecks. Voice: The ruddy-capped nightingale-thrush's song is "an ethereal, melancholic, liquid, and throaty, persistently uttered, and far-carrying series of short, deliberate and diverse phrases, with fluty trills, clear whistles and warbles". It is usually sung in the morning or evening and also in misty weather.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Anthony Batista · CC BY 4.0

Photos and recordings are credited to their authors under the licence shown. Full profiles: Black-headed Nightingale-Thrush and Ruddy-capped Nightingale-Thrush.