Bird Guide

Dark-faced Ground Tyrant vs White-browed Ground Tyrant

Dark-faced Ground Tyrant (Muscisaxicola maclovianus)

Dark-faced Ground Tyrant

Muscisaxicola maclovianus

Small24 gGrassland

The dark-faced ground tyrant is 15 to 16.5 cm (5.9 to 6.5 in) long. The two subspecies and both sexes have the same plumage, though subspecies M. m. mentalis is significantly smaller than the nominate. Adults have a blackish forehead, lores, and cheeks and a dull chestnut-brown crown. Their upperparts are mostly dark brown to smoky brown with a black lower rump. Their wings are a duskier brown than the upperparts. Their tail is black with whitish edges on the outer webs of the outermost feathers. Their throat and breast are gray and their belly and crissum white. Voice: As of April 2025 xeno-canto had six recordings of dark-faced ground tyrant vocalizations; the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Macaulay Library had 18 with some overlap between the two. The species' song is "reported as a warbling series of notes". During the flight display males call "a discreet zilip". Its alarm calls include "a series of loud cheep and rapid tu or chee-tú" notes.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Yann · CC BY 2.0
White-browed Ground Tyrant (Muscisaxicola albilora)

White-browed Ground Tyrant

Muscisaxicola albilora

Small23 gGrassland

The white-browed ground tyrant is 15 to 17.5 cm (5.9 to 6.9 in) long and weighs about 25 to 29 g (0.88 to 1.0 oz). The sexes have the same plumage. Adults have a tawny forecrown, a rufous hindcrown, and a long thin white supercilium. Their upperparts are brownish gray. Their wings are dusky gray. Their tail is black with whitish edges on the outer webs of the outermost feathers. Their throat, breast, and belly are pale gray and their crissum whitish. They have a dark brown iris, a long dusky bill, and dusky legs and feet. Voice: The white-browed ground tyrant appears to be more vocal than other ground tyrants. The most common vocalization (or most commonly recorded) is "a high-pitched...short, slightly rising tset or tseek, with some variation". During the courtship flight males make a "clet ip" call. What appears to be the species' alarm call is a "high-pitched, short and abrupt tsip".

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Sonogram of the White-browed Ground Tyrant
Recorded by steve · Call · Natales (near Puerto Prat), Última Esperanza, Magallanes y la Antártica Chilena, Chile · CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Julia Ariadna · CC0

Where you might meet both

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Photos and recordings are credited to their authors under the licence shown. Full profiles: Dark-faced Ground Tyrant and White-browed Ground Tyrant.