Bird Guide

Caribbean Elaenia vs Ornate Flycatcher

Caribbean Elaenia (Elaenia martinica)

Caribbean Elaenia

Elaenia martinica

Small21 gForest

The Caribbean elaenia is 14 to 18 cm (5.5 to 7.1 in) long and weighs 18 to 29 g (0.63 to 1.0 oz). It is largish elaenia and has a bushy crest. The sexes have the same plumage. Adults of the nominate subspecies E. m. martinica have a dull olive to brownish olive crown with a white stripe in the middle of the crest. They have whitish lores and a faint whitish eyering on an otherwise mottled gray-brown face. Their upperparts are dull olive to brownish olive. Their wings are dusky with yellowish to whitish edges on the flight feathers and tips on the coverts; the latter show as two wing bars. Voice: The Caribbean elaenia's song is a "drawn-out pee-wee-reereeree". Its call is a repeated "jui-up, wit-churr".

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: (c) Tommy Andriollo, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY 4.0
Ornate Flycatcher (Myiotriccus ornatus)

Ornate Flycatcher

Myiotriccus ornatus

Tiny10 gForest

The ornate flycatcher is about 11 to 12 cm (4.3 to 4.7 in) long and weighs 8.2 to 13.4 g (0.29 to 0.47 oz). The sexes are alike in plumage; females are slightly smaller than males. Adults of the nominate subspecies M. o. ornatus have a mostly black head with a white crescent in front of the eye and a partly hidden bright yellow patch in the middle of the crown. Their back is deep olive and their rump bright golden-yellow. Their wings are dusky black. Their tail's base is bright rufous and its outer half is dusky black. Voice: The ornate flycatcher's dawn song is "a sharp note followed by a chippering trill: PSEW! tititititi". Its calls include "a sharp, squeaky PSEW", a "quiet pip pip pip", and "a sharp, high pitched, and emphatic 'wheep!' or 'peeyp!' ".

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Sonogram of the Ornate Flycatcher
Recorded by Niels Krabbe · Call · Napo: km 11.6 Narupa-Loreto road, Ecuador · CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: (c) Morten Ross, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Morten Ross · cc-by

Where you might meet both

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Photos and recordings are credited to their authors under the licence shown. Full profiles: Caribbean Elaenia and Ornate Flycatcher.