Bird Guide

Double-banded Pygmy Tyrant vs Helmeted Pygmy Tyrant

Double-banded Pygmy Tyrant (Lophotriccus vitiosus)

Double-banded Pygmy Tyrant

Lophotriccus vitiosus

Tiny7 gForest

The double-banded pygmy tyrant is about 10 cm (3.9 in) long and weighs 6 to 8.5 g (0.21 to 0.30 oz). It has long crown feathers that form a crest and that it occasionally erects and fans; the feathers extend past the back of the head when folded. Females have a smaller crest than males but the sexes otherwise have the same plumage. Adults of the nominate subspecies L. v. vitiosus have a black crest with gray edges on the feathers. They have whitish lores on an otherwise olive face. Their back, rump, and uppertail coverts are olive. Voice: The double-banded pygmy tyrant's song has some regional variation. In Ecuador it is described as "a distinctive short harsh trill that descends in pitch, 'turrrrrrew' ". In Peru, subspecies L. v. vitiosus sings a similarly described "descending, harsh, ringing djzeeer" while L. v. congener sings a "similar, but considerably lower-pitched beerrrrrrp".

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Sonogram of the Double-banded Pygmy Tyrant
Recorded by JUAN ANTONIO ALONSO DE JUAN · Call · Vereda La Máquina, Pacho, Cundinamarca, Colombia · CC BY 4.0
Photo: Jan Ebr & Ivana Ebrová · CC BY 4.0
Helmeted Pygmy Tyrant (Lophotriccus galeatus)

Helmeted Pygmy Tyrant

Lophotriccus galeatus

Tiny7 gUrban

The helmeted pygmy tyrant is about 10 cm (3.9 in) long and weighs 6 to 7 g (0.21 to 0.25 oz). The sexes have the same plumage. Adults have long black crown feathers with grayish olive edges. They form a crest that it sometimes erects and fans; they extend beyond the rear of the head when folded. Adults have whitish lores on an otherwise olive face. Their back, rump, and uppertail coverts are olive. Their wings are dusky with olive edges on the flight feathers and tips on the coverts; the latter show as two faint wing bars. Their tail is dusky with olive edges on the feathers. Voice: The helmeted pygmy tyrant's song is a "eries of 4–10 dry staccato 'pik' or 'trik' notes, sometimes ending in warbled or trilled phrase".

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: avocat · 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: Double-banded Pygmy Tyrant and Helmeted Pygmy Tyrant.