Rufous-tailed Plantcutter vs White-tipped Plantcutter

Rufous-tailed Plantcutter

Phytotoma rara

Small47 gShrubland

It is a stocky bird, 18-20 centimetres in length, with short wings and a red eye. The longish tail is black with a reddish base. The upperparts of the male are grey-brown with dark streaks while the crown and underparts are chestnut-coloured. There is a white bar on the wing and a pattern of dark and pale areas on the face. Females have buff underparts with brown streaks and have buff rather than white in the wings. They do not have the males' chestnut crown but may show a cinnamon wash to the forehead and throat.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: dfaulder · CC BY 2.0

White-tipped Plantcutter

Phytotoma rutila

Small41 gShrubland

The white-tipped plantcutter is 18 to 19.5 cm (7.1 to 7.7 in) long and weighs 30 to 57 g (1.1 to 2.0 oz). The sexes have different plumage. Adult males of the nominate subspecies have a rufous forehead, a dark gray crown and cheeks, and a short crest. The gray has sparse darker streaks. Their upperparts are also dark gray with sparse darker streaks. Their wings are dusky blackish with white tips on the coverts that show as two wing bars. Their tail is dusky blackish with wide white tips on all but the central pair of feathers. Voice: The white-tipped plantcutter's most common vocalization is "a mechanical errrrrrr, like sound made by winding old-fashioned alarm clock, sometimes repeated several times, and sometimes followed by lower and shorter errrr". It has also been likened to "a creaking door on unoiled, rusty hinges".

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Allan Drewitt · CC BY 2.5

Photos and recordings are credited to their authors under the licence shown. Full profiles: Rufous-tailed Plantcutter and White-tipped Plantcutter.