Bird Guide

Great-billed Hermit vs White-bearded Hermit

Great-billed Hermit (Phaethornis malaris)

Great-billed Hermit

Phaethornis malaris

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The great-billed hermit is 13 to 17.5 cm (5.1 to 6.9 in) long. Males weigh 4.5 to 10 g (0.16 to 0.35 oz) and females 4 to 8 g (0.14 to 0.28 oz). The nominate subspecies is the largest. It has greenish-brown upperparts and brownish to grayish underparts. Its uppertail coverts have dark and light ochre bands and the central tail feathers are long with long white tips. It has a long decurved bill, with the female's being shorter but more curved than the male's. P. m. insolitus is smaller than the nominate but otherwise similar. P. m. moorei has paler, grayer, underparts than the nominate. P. m. Voice: The great-billed hermit's song is generally "a continuous series of single, bisyllablic rising, falling 'slee-up' notes" that differs somewhat among the subspecies. It also makes "a sharp 'skweep!'" call, usually in flight.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Jean Baptiste Audebert (1759-1800) · Public domain
White-bearded Hermit (Phaethornis hispidus)

White-bearded Hermit

Phaethornis hispidus

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The white-bearded hermit is about 13 to 14 cm (5.1 to 5.5 in) long and weighs 4 to 6 g (0.14 to 0.21 oz). This medium-sized hermit has bronzy green upperparts with gray margins on the uppertail coverts. The underparts are gray. The face has a black "mask" with a white supercilium and malar stripe; the center of the throat has a white stripe. The female has identical plumage but shorter wings and a shorter and more decurved bill than the male. Voice: The white-bearded hermit's song is "a continuous series of high-pitched single notes 'seep'. It is typically sung from a low perch while gathered at a lek with other males. Its call is "a short explosive 'pip!'."

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: (c) Christoph Moning, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Christoph Moning · cc-by

Where you might meet both

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Photos and recordings are credited to their authors under the licence shown. Full profiles: Great-billed Hermit and White-bearded Hermit.