Bird Guide

Puna Miner vs Rufous-banded Miner

Puna Miner (Geositta punensis)

Puna Miner

Geositta punensis

Small26 gGrassland

The puna miner is a medium-size member of its genus. It is 13.5 to 14 cm (5.3 to 5.5 in) long and weighs 22 to 29 g (0.78 to 1.0 oz). The sexes are alike. It has a pale grayish brown face with a buffy whitish supercilium. It is pale sandy brown from its crown to its rump; its uppertail coverts are even paler. Its tail feathers have pale tawny rufous bases, dark brownish to blackish middles, and pale tawny rufous tips. The pale basal area is progressively larger from the innermost to the outer feathers and the outermost have almost entirely white outer webs. Voice: The puna miner often sings during a display flight, "a long shrill series of 'veoo' notes, rising early and then descending". The song has some "faster, chattier notes" mixed in. Its flight call is "a sharp, rich 'pzea' or 'kvee'."

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Opisska · CC0
Rufous-banded Miner (Geositta rufipennis)

Rufous-banded Miner

Geositta rufipennis

Small32 gGrassland

The rufous-banded miner is a medium to large member of its genus. It is 14 to 17 cm (5.5 to 6.7 in) long and weighs 25 to 54 g (0.88 to 1.9 oz). The sexes are alike. The nominate subspecies G. r. rufipennis has a brownish gray face with a pale supercilium and a dark gray-brown line behind the eye. It is dull sandy olive from its crown to its uppertail coverts. Its central tail feathers have dull tawny bases, grayish brown middles, a wide blackish band near the end, and dull tawny tips. The rest have progressively redder bases and smaller black bands to the outermost. Voice: The rufous-banded miner's song is "a fast series...of buzzy, trilled notes on the same pitch" that may include "bursts of faster notes". It is sung from a perch on a rock and during display flight.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: S. Rae from Scotland, UK · CC BY 2.0

Where you might meet both

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Photos and recordings are credited to their authors under the licence shown. Full profiles: Puna Miner and Rufous-banded Miner.