Bird Guide

Golden-bellied Flycatcher vs Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher

Golden-bellied Flycatcher (Myiodynastes hemichrysus)

Golden-bellied Flycatcher

Myiodynastes hemichrysus

Small43 gForest

The golden-bellied flycatcher is 20 to 22 cm (7.9 to 8.7 in) long and weighs about 39 to 42.5 g (1.4 to 1.5 oz). The sexes have the same plumage. Adults of the nominate subspecies M. h. hemichrysus have a thinly black-streaked, dusky grayish olive or dark sooty gray, crown and nape with a large, usually hidden, yellow patch in the center of the crown. They have a wide white supercilium, a wide blackish stripe through the lores and ear coverts, and a grayish olive or dusky cheek with a whitish stripe through it. Voice: The few studies to date have revealed little difference among the vocalizations of the three golden-bellied flycatcher subspecies. The species' dawn song is a "repeated simple phrase kwee!-tee-tu, also transcribed as tree-le-loo, squeeE-yu-drr or PSEE-chirr-rr". Its day song is a "repeated loud strident skeeew! or skeeeuu!".

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Sonogram of the Golden-bellied Flycatcher
Recorded by Rosa Elena Albornoz @rosaelena_naturaleza · Call · San Antonio De Los Altos (near Parroquia Macarao), Municipio Los Salias, Miranda, Venezuela · CC0
Photo: Alina Martin · CC BY 4.0
Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher (Myiodynastes luteiventris)

Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher

Myiodynastes luteiventris

Small47 gWoodland

The sulphur-bellied flycatcher is about 20 cm (7.9 in) long and weighs about 40 to 57 g (1.4 to 2.0 oz). The sexes have the same plumage. Adults have a pale hoary gray or grayish white forecrown and supercilium. They have a brownish gray to olive crown with blackish streaks and a large, usually hidden, canary-yellow patch in the center. They have dusky lores; the color extends to the ear coverts and forms a dark "mask". Below the mask is a wide white stripe with thin dusky streaks and below that a thin dusky stripe. Voice: Only male sulphur-bellied flycatchers sing. The song is variously described as a "soft, liquid, almost warbled tre-le-re-re, tre-le-re-re", a "persistently repeated, a soft chu-eer", and a "clipped, slightly liquid phrase: chee-a-leet s-lik or chew-ee ti-lit or doo-ee ti-chu". Its "screech" call has been compared to "the protest of a wagon wheel that needs oiling".

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Tristan Jobin · 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: Golden-bellied Flycatcher and Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher.