Bird Guide

Orange-billed Nightingale-Thrush vs Ruddy-capped Nightingale-Thrush

Orange-billed Nightingale-Thrush (Catharus aurantiirostris)

Orange-billed Nightingale-Thrush

Catharus aurantiirostris

Small30 gForest

The orange-billed nightingale-thrush is 15.5 to 17 cm (6.1 to 6.7 in) long and weighs 21 to 32 g (0.74 to 1.1 oz). The sexes have the same plumage. Adults of the nominate subspecies C. a. aurantiirostris are olive-brown with a rufous tinge on their crown, nape, back, rump, wings, and tail. The rufous is strongest on the last three areas. Their face is grayish brown with a thin orange eye-ring. Their throat is whitish that darkens to pale gray on the rest of the underparts. They have a long, strong, orange bill and brownish orange legs and feet. Voice: The orange-billed nightingale thrush usually sings from dense cover. Its song varies among the subspecies. In northern Central America it is "a scratchy warbling series of sharp whistles and buzzes:chit-TSEE!-tah'wert-PEE'tseee-Cheet or TSIP!-Tseee-cheet-tsee'weet". There its calls are "a sharp, high-pitched whistle, tsseeeeeee" and, as a contact call, "a catlike rreeahhhh".

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Sonogram of the Orange-billed Nightingale-Thrush
Recorded by Ana Rebeca Martinez Martinez · Song · Santa María Coatlán, San Pablo Coatlán, Oaxaca, Mexico · CC0
Photo: Feroze Omardeen · CC BY 2.0
Ruddy-capped Nightingale-Thrush (Catharus frantzii)

Ruddy-capped Nightingale-Thrush

Catharus frantzii

Small29 gForest

The ruddy-capped nightingale-thrush is about 15 to 18 cm (5.9 to 7.1 in) long and weighs about 30 g (1.1 oz). The sexes have the same plumage. Adults of the nominate subspecies C. f. frantzii have a rich rufous-brown to russet crown and a grayish face that sometimes has an olive tinge. Their back and rump are brownish olive with a russet wash and their uppertail coverts are deep rufous-brown. Their wings are mostly the same color as the back and rump but with silvery white undersides on the flight feathers. Their tail is deep rufous-brown. Their chin and throat are whitish with dark flecks. Voice: The ruddy-capped nightingale-thrush's song is "an ethereal, melancholic, liquid, and throaty, persistently uttered, and far-carrying series of short, deliberate and diverse phrases, with fluty trills, clear whistles and warbles". It is usually sung in the morning or evening and also in misty weather.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Anthony Batista · 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: Orange-billed Nightingale-Thrush and Ruddy-capped Nightingale-Thrush.