Bird Guide

Lark Bunting vs Orange-billed Sparrow

Lark Bunting (Calamospiza melanocorys)

Lark Bunting

Calamospiza melanocorys

Small38 gGrassland

Lark buntings are small songbirds, with a short, thick, bluish bill. There is a large patch of white on the wings and they have a relatively short tail with white tips at the end of the feathers. Breeding males have an all black body with a large white patch on the upper part of the wing. Nonbreeding males and females look similar and are grayish brown with white stripes. Measurements: Length: 5.5–7.1 in (140–180 mm) Weight: 1.3–1.5 oz (37–43 g) Wingspan: 9.8–11.0 in (250–280 mm)

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: kirk gardner · CC BY 4.0
Orange-billed Sparrow (Arremon aurantiirostris)

Orange-billed Sparrow

Arremon aurantiirostris

Small35 gForest

The orange-billed sparrow is 14.5 to 16.5 cm (5.7 to 6.5 in) long and weighs about 35 g (1.2 oz). The sexes have the same plumage and all subspecies have the eponymous bright orange bill. Adults of the nominate subspecies A. a. aurantiirostris have a black crown with a gray stripe along its middle and a wide white supercilium on an otherwise black face. Their upperparts are olive-green and their wings and tail a darker olive-green with yellow at the bend of the wing. Their chin has a small black area and their throat is white with a wide black band below it across the upper upper breast. Voice: The orange-billed sparrow's song varies geographically though in general is "high-pitched, either a series of alternating lilting notes or thin whistles". In northern Central America it is an "extremely high-pitched series of sharp whistles" that lasts about two seconds; its call there is a "smacking tsiit!".

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Recording: Andres Felipe Espinosa · CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Marc Athanase Parfait Oeillet Des Murs · Public domain

Where you might meet both

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Photos and recordings are credited to their authors under the licence shown. Full profiles: Lark Bunting and Orange-billed Sparrow.