Bird Guide

Caribbean Elaenia vs White-crested Elaenia

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
White-crested Elaenia (Elaenia albiceps)

White-crested Elaenia

Elaenia albiceps

Small16 gForest

The white-crested elaenia is 13.5 to 15 cm (5.3 to 5.9 in) long and weighs 12.5 to 24.2 g (0.44 to 0.85 oz). It is a small to medium size elaenia with a small bushy crest. The sexes have the same plumage. Adults of the nominate subspecies E. a. albiceps have a mostly dull olive to olive-gray head with a partially hidden white or creamy white stripe in the middle of the crest. They have whitish lores and eyering. Their upperparts are dull olive to olive-gray. Their wings are dusky with white or whitish tips on the coverts that show as two wing bars. Voice: The white-crested elaenia's vocalizations apparently differ somewhat among the subspecies, though not all have been studied in detail. The dawn song of E. a. griseigularis is "a series of deep, burry, falling-rising djeewee notes interspersed with occasional per'brr'djwee notes" and its calls are "a low, rich, modulated djur and a longer, descending djeeer". The dawn song of E. a.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Sonogram of the White-crested Elaenia
Recorded by steve · Call · Natales (near Puerto Prat), Última Esperanza, Magallanes y la Antártica Chilena, Chile · CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Fornés Sebastián Fornés · CC BY 4.0

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 White-crested Elaenia.