Reddish Hermit
Phaethornis ruber
The reddish hermit is 8 to 9 cm (3.1 to 3.5 in) long and weighs 1.8 to 3 g (0.06 to 0.11 oz). All subspecies are generally dark green and rufous on the upperparts and cinnamon rufous on the underparts. Males have a black band on the chest and the tail feather have narrow white or reddish tips. Females have lighter underparts than the males. P. r. episcopus is about the same size as the nominate but has orange-rufous rather than cinnamon-rufous underparts and white tips to the tail. P. r. nigricinctus is the smallest subspecies; it has the richest rufous underparts. P. r. Voice: The reddish hermit's song is "a high-pitched phrase repeated incessantly with clear pauses between phrases...evenly-spaced, slightly descending, single notes followed by a number of accelerating descending notes, e.g. 'tsee....tsee...tsee...tsee.tse.tsitsi'." It frequently sings for long periods at leks. It has "long whining calls" made while hovering and a "stip!" flight call.
ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
White-whiskered Hermit
Phaethornis yaruqui
The white-whiskered hermit is about 13 cm (5.1 in) long. Males weigh 4 to 7 g (0.14 to 0.25 oz) and females 4 to 6.5 g (0.14 to 0.23 oz). This medium-sized hermit has a bronzy crown and iridescent bluish green upperparts. Its underparts are green to dark gray. The face has a black "mask" with a buffy supercilium and a white gular stripe. The male's bill is almost straight. The female has a shorter and gently decurved bill, shorter wings, more grayish underparts, and a longer tail than the male. Voice: The white-whiskered hermit's song is "a continuous series of rather harsh 'kree-u' notes". It also gives a series of "seek" notes while wagging its tail on a low perch at a lek.
ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
Where you might meet both
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Play today's Daily BirdPhotos and recordings are credited to their authors under the licence shown. Full profiles: Reddish Hermit and White-whiskered Hermit.