Bird Guide

Large-billed Scrubwren vs White-browed Scrubwren

Large-billed Scrubwren (Sericornis magnirostra)

Large-billed Scrubwren

Sericornis magnirostra

Tiny10 gForest

The large-billed scrubwren is 11.5 to 13 cm (4.5 to 5.1 in) in length and weighs 10 g (0.35 oz). It has a dark reddish-brown eye in a pale buff face, with a longish, black bill inclined slightly upwards. The upperparts are light grey-brown with an olive tint, the throat is a pale buffy-white, the belly greyish, and the rump and tail light rufous-brown. Voice: The large-billed scrubwren is mostly silent, but occasionally makes a penetrating territorial call "s-cheer s-cheer", a sharp, loud "chwip-chwip" or a chattering "sip-sip" while feeding.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Rolf Lawrenz · CC BY 4.0
White-browed Scrubwren (Sericornis frontalis)

White-browed Scrubwren

Sericornis frontalis

Tiny13 gShrubland

Mainland birds measure 11.5 cm (4+1⁄2 in) in length and olive brown upperparts (greyish brown in the spotted subspecies and dark brown in Tasmania), with prominent pale irises and a white brow. The throat is white with faint streaks in the subspecies frontalis and laevigaster and heavily spotted in maculatus. Ear coverts are grey in frontalis and black in laevigaster, and brownish in the other two subspecies. The underparts are pale, though buff in laevigaster. The thin bill is black. The females are duller overall and generally have pale gray lores, whereas males have blackish lores.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Ron Knight from Seaford, East Sussex, United Kingdom · CC BY 2.0

Where you might meet both

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Photos and recordings are credited to their authors under the licence shown. Full profiles: Large-billed Scrubwren and White-browed Scrubwren.