Botteri's Sparrow
Peucaea botterii
Botteri's sparrow is about 15 to 17 cm (5.9 to 6.7 in) long and weighs 17 to 26 g (0.60 to 0.92 oz). The sexes have the same plumage. Adults of the nominate subspecies have a reddish brown crown, pale lores, a pale supercilium, and a rusty streak behind the eye on an otherwise gray face. Their upperparts are reddish brown with thin black streaks (wider in the center of the back) and gray edges on the feathers. Their tail is dusky with lighter feather edges and a dark "ladder-shaped" pattern on the middle feathers. Voice: Only male Botteri's sparrows sing, a "complex, repetitive pattern". During the breeding season they sing from a perch or in flight. One description is "up to 7 short notes, followed by a trill of increasing tempo, then usually concluded by 1–2 phrases of 1–2 notes". A rendering from northern Central America is "tseet-tseet-pwi'i'i't-pweet-pweet-teu'teu'teu'teu'tuetuetuetue".
ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
Bridled Sparrow
Peucaea mystacalis
The bridled sparrow is 14 to 16.5 cm (5.5 to 6.5 in) long and weighs about 20 to 26 g (0.71 to 0.92 oz). The sexes have the same plumage. Adults have a grayish crown and nape with dusky streaks. Their lores are black with a white spot above them. Their face is dull brownish gray or dusky with a white "moustache" stripe. Their back is brown with black streaks and their scapulars cinnamon rufous. Their rump is also cinnamon rufous. Their tail is dusky with paler feather edges. Their wings are dull black or dusky with paler feather edges. Voice: The bridled sparrow's song is "a series of hesitant, slightly sneezy, sharp, sweet chips, in full song breaking into an excited liquid chatter: w-sik', w-sik' w-sik', w-sik' w-sik' ... or w-syu', w-syu' .... run into an accelerating, rapid seeu seeuseeuseeuseeuseeu". Its calls include "a sharp, liquid suik; thin, high, wheezy to slightly liquid twittering...
ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
Where you might meet both
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Play today's Daily BirdPhotos and recordings are credited to their authors under the licence shown. Full profiles: Botteri's Sparrow and Bridled Sparrow.