Bird Guide

Grey-browed Brushfinch vs Moss-backed Sparrow

Grey-browed Brushfinch (Arremon assimilis)

Grey-browed Brushfinch

Arremon assimilis

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The grey-browed brushfinch is 19 to 20 cm (7.5 to 7.9 in) long. The sexes have the same plumage. Adults of the nominate subspecies A. a. assimilis have a black crown with a gray stripe in the middle and a gray supercilium that extends to the nape and wraps down around the back of the ear coverts to the sides of the breast. The rest of their face is black. Their upperparts, wings, and tail are olive-green. Their throat is white that continues through the breast and belly. The sides of their breast and flanks are gray and their vent grayish olive. Juveniles are generally olive with dusky cheeks. Voice: The grey-browed brushfinch's song is "a high, sibilant series of thin whistles with short spaces between separate phrases (often of three elements), e.g. weseer-twee twesee? Sewtsee? Weseer-twee tweswee? Sewtswee?...". Its calls include "a high ti and a tseer".

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Sonogram of the Grey-browed Brushfinch
Recorded by aves_SDA_Bogota · Song · Paradero de Buses Sotrandes y Cootrasuba (near Bogotá), Bogotá, Colombia · CC BY 4.0
Photo: Alina Martin · CC BY 4.0
Moss-backed Sparrow (Arremon dorbignii)

Moss-backed Sparrow

Arremon dorbignii

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The adult male moss-backed sparrow's head is mostly black, with a white supercilium from the lores to the back of the head and a narrow gray streak on the crown. The neck is gray and the back, wings, and tail are dull olive green. Its underside is white with grayish edges and a narrow black band across the upper chest. The adult female is similar but duller overall. The crown strip is olive and the underparts are buffy with brown flanks. Juveniles are similar to the adults but duller. The moss-backed sparrow shares the "striking orange bill" of its former "parent" saffron-billed sparrow.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Rosario Douglas · CC BY 4.0

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Photos and recordings are credited to their authors under the licence shown. Full profiles: Grey-browed Brushfinch and Moss-backed Sparrow.