Cordilleran Canastero vs Short-billed Canastero

Cordilleran Canastero

Asthenes modesta

Small17 gGrassland

The cordilleran canastero is 15 to 16 cm (5.9 to 6.3 in) long and weighs 13 to 22 g (0.46 to 0.78 oz). It is one of the smaller canasteros. The sexes have the same plumage. Adults of the nominate subspecies A. m. modesta have a narrow light buff-brown supercilium, dark brownish lores, brownish ear coverts, and a whitish buff-brown malar region with darker brown streaks. Their crown, nape, back, rump, and uppertail coverts are dull dark brown, though the back is paler and sandier in the southern part of the species' range. Voice: The cordilleran canastero's song is "an ascending fast trill that ends abruptly". It also makes a "more complex trill with introductory notes". Its calls are "a short, low 'pyup' or 'tjit' ".

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Ron Knight from Seaford, East Sussex, United Kingdom · CC BY 2.0

Short-billed Canastero

Asthenes baeri

Small18 gShrubland

The short-billed canastero is 14 to 15 cm (5.5 to 5.9 in) long and weighs 10 to 18 g (0.35 to 0.63 oz). It has a short and thick bill, and is more similar to the wholly unrelated little thornbird (Phacellodomus sibilatrix) than to other canasteros. The sexes have the same plumage. Adults of the nominate subspecies have an indistinct wide grayish supercilium on an otherwise dull grayish brown face. Their crown is dull gray-brown, their back a slightly grayer brown, and their rump and uppertail coverts gray with a brown tinge. Voice: The short-billed canastero's song is "a high-pitched, fast seep seep seepseepseep..., speeding up to and ending in a trill". Sometimes the introductory notes are omitted. It also gives a "series of short, buzzing 'pzzz' phrases.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Megustanlasframbuesas · CC0

Photos and recordings are credited to their authors under the licence shown. Full profiles: Cordilleran Canastero and Short-billed Canastero.