Bird Guide

Drab Water Tyrant vs Slender-footed Tyrannulet

Drab Water Tyrant (Ochthornis littoralis)

Drab Water Tyrant

Ochthornis littoralis

Tiny13 gRiverine

The drab water tyrant is 13 to 13.5 cm (5.1 to 5.3 in) long and weighs about 13 g (0.46 oz). The sexes have the same plumage. Adults have a dark sandy brown crown and a faint whitish supercilium on an otherwise medium sandy brown face. Their nape and back are medium sandy brown and their rump a paler sandy brown. Their wings and tail are dusky brown. Their underparts are a paler sandy brown than their back. They have a dark iris, a blackish bill, and blackish legs and feet. Voice: The drab water tyrant seldom vocalizes. Its song is "a rapid excited series of rattling chatters: chip-chew treeee-chew treeee-chew treeee-chew treeee-chew". Its call has variously been described as "a weak, whistled fwoit or fweet", "an occasional soft free", and "a high, squeaky pee'ip or peep".

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Manuel Roncal · CC0
Slender-footed Tyrannulet (Zimmerius gracilipes)

Slender-footed Tyrannulet

Zimmerius gracilipes

Tiny7 gForest

The slender-footed tyrannulet is 9 to 12 cm (3.5 to 4.7 in) long and weighs 6.6 to 9.5 g (0.23 to 0.34 oz). The sexes have the same plumage. Adults of the nominate subspecies have a gray forehead and crown. They have a thin whitish supercilium that starts at their lores and a dark stripe through the eye on an otherwise yellowish white face. Their back and rump are dull olive. Their wings are dusky with thin yellow edges on the coverts and inner parts of the flight feathers. Their tail is dusky olive. Voice: The dawn song of the slender-footed tyrannulet's nominate subspecies has been described as "a soft, querulous, semimusical 'peeu, tri-ri-ri' " and its call as "an inflected 'tuwee?' ". Another author described them similarly as "a rising musical chatter" tew-tui'i'i tew-tui'i'i" and "a mewing, rising huee". The dawn song of subspecies Z. g.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Sonogram of the Slender-footed Tyrannulet
Recorded by Niels Krabbe · Call · Sucumbíos: 'Sacha Lodge', n bank Río Napo, Ecuador · CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Thomaz de Carvalho Callado · 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: Drab Water Tyrant and Slender-footed Tyrannulet.