Bird Guide

Mountain Cacique vs Solitary Cacique

Mountain Cacique (Cacicus chrysonotus)

Mountain Cacique

Cacicus chrysonotus

Medium64 gForest

Mountain caciques are about 25 to 30 cm (9.8 to 12 in) long. Males weigh about 92 to 98 g (3.2 to 3.5 oz) and females about 64 to 67 g (2.3 to 2.4 oz). The sexes have essentially the same plumage though females are a duller black than males. Adults are almost entirely glossy black. Their lower back and rump are yellow, and some individuals have some to much yellow on the upperwing coverts. They have a blue to bluish white iris, a pale yellow-ivory to greenish ivory bill with a bluish gray base, and black legs and feet. Juveniles have dark brown eyes but are otherwise like adults. Voice: The song of the male mountain cacique is described as "pig-like squeals followed by high-pitched notes and accelerating into a rattle". It is "quite vocal, with a variety of loud calls including a wree-wree-wree-wreeuh, sometimes just a single wree! or kreeuh!, and a repeated more nasal skeeuh".

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Zoltán Stekkelpak · CC0
Solitary Cacique (Cacicus solitarius)

Solitary Cacique

Cacicus solitarius

Medium80 gForest

The male solitary cacique has a length of about 27 cm (10.6 in) and the female 23 cm (9.1 in). It differs from all other entirely black birds with dark irises within its range, by having a large white, chisel-shaped, sharply-pointed beak. It could be confused with the Ecuadorian cacique (Cacicus sclateri), but that is smaller and has a restricted range, or the yellow-billed cacique (Amblycercus holosericeus), but that is not found east of the Andes. It has a range of different vocalizations which are mostly delivered at a measured pace but are sometimes interrupted by gurgles and growls.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Sonogram of the Solitary Cacique
Recorded by Niels Krabbe · Song · Sucumbíos: 'La Selva Jungle Lodge', n bank Río Napo, Ecuador · CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Audrey Whitlock · CC BY 4.0

Where you might meet both

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Photos and recordings are credited to their authors under the licence shown. Full profiles: Mountain Cacique and Solitary Cacique.