Long-billed Starthroat vs Plain-capped Starthroat

Long-billed Starthroat

Heliomaster longirostris

Tiny7 gForest

The long-billed starthroat is 11 to 12 cm (4.3 to 4.7 in) long. Males weigh 5.5 to 7.1 g (0.19 to 0.25 oz) and females about 6.5 g (0.23 oz). Both sexes of all subspecies have a long, almost straight, black bill and a small white spot behind the eye. Males of the nominate subspecies have a glittering blue to greenish blue crown; the rest of its upperparts are dark bronzy green with the exception of a white stripe down the center of the rump. The face is black below the crown and has a white malar stripe below the black. Its tail is rather short and square-tipped. Voice: The long-billed starthroat's calls include "a rich liquid 'tseep' or 'tsew'" and "sqeaky twitters"; the latter is made during chases.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Joao Quental · CC BY 2.0

Plain-capped Starthroat

Heliomaster constantii

Tiny7 gWoodland

The plain-capped starthroat is 11 to 13 cm (4.3 to 5.1 in) long. Males weigh about 7.4 g (0.26 oz) and females about 7.2 g (0.25 oz). Both sexes of all subspecies have a long, almost straight, black bill and a white streak behind the eye. The sexes have essentially the same plumage. The nominate subspecies has metallic bronze green upperparts with a wide white streak on the rump; the crown is less metallic than the rest. Much of the face is dusky, with a wide white "moustache". The chin is sooty to blackish and the gorget ranges from several shades of bright metallic red to purplish red. Voice: The plain-capped starthroat's song is "a series of sharp chips interspersed with varied chips, chip chip chip pi-chip chip chip ...., or chi chi chi chi whit-it chi ...". Its calls include "a high-pitched, fairly soft and melodious slurred tseep or cheek", "a sharp, fairly loud peek", and during chases "a high pitched, piercing twitter".

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Daniel Pineda Vera · CC BY 4.0

Photos and recordings are credited to their authors under the licence shown. Full profiles: Long-billed Starthroat and Plain-capped Starthroat.