Bird Guide

Lark-like Brushrunner vs Streaked Tuftedcheek

Lark-like Brushrunner (Coryphistera alaudina)

Lark-like Brushrunner

Coryphistera alaudina

Small30 gShrubland

The lark-like brushrunner is 15 to 17 cm (5.9 to 6.7 in) long and weighs 27 to 42 g (0.95 to 1.5 oz). It is an unusual furnariid that, as its name implies, resembles a lark with an erect crest. The sexes have the same plumage. Adults of the nominate subspecies have white around their eye that extends onto the ear coverts that are otherwise cinnamon-rufous. Their lores are dull brownish. Their forehead is rufescent brownish and their crown and crest very dark brown. Voice: What is thought to be the lark-like brushrunner's song is "a high-pitched, tremulous, tinkling trill, 'rrrrrew' or 'croe, criiii'". Its calls include a "variety of low buzzy trills and squeaky notes".

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Ron Knight from Seaford, East Sussex, United Kingdom · CC BY 2.0
Streaked Tuftedcheek (Pseudocolaptes boissonneautii)

Streaked Tuftedcheek

Pseudocolaptes boissonneautii

Small44 gForest

The streaked tuftedcheek is 20 to 22 cm (7.9 to 8.7 in) long and weighs 37 to 62 g (1.3 to 2.2 oz). It is a rather large and strongly patterned ovenbird. The sexes' plumages are alike but the female of most subspecies has a significantly longer bill than the male. The species' most distinctive feature is its namesake tuft of almost pure white feathers that flare on the side of the neck. Adults of the nominate subspecies P. b. boissonneautii have a buff-whitish supercilium, blackish brown lores and ear coverts, and white cheeks. Voice: The streaked tuftedcheek is not highly vocal. Its song a complex: "sharp 'spik' notes followed by series of whistled tinkling 'tsee' or 'che' notes on same pitch, slightly accelerating, followed by dry, quavering trill, sometimes ending abruptly with distinct notes, 'spik, spik, chechehchehchechechechchchch… dzdzdzdzdzdzdzdzdzdz' ".

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Sonogram of the Streaked Tuftedcheek
Recorded by Niels Krabbe · Call, song · Loja: Cerro Acanamá, Ecuador · CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: José Loiza, Aves y Conservación · 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-like Brushrunner and Streaked Tuftedcheek.