Rusty-vented Canastero
Asthenes dorbignyi
The rusty-vented canastero is 14.5 to 16.5 cm (5.7 to 6.5 in) long and weighs 17.5 to 24 g (0.62 to 0.85 oz). It is a medium-sized canastero. The sexes have the same plumage. Adults of the nominate subspecies have a light gray supercilium and an indistinct brownish line behind the eye in an otherwise dull buff face. Their crown, nape, and back are pale brown and their rump and uppertail coverts rufous brown. Their wing coverts are rufous chestnut and their flight feathers dusky with wide rufous chestnut edges on the inner ones. Voice: The rusty-vented canastero's song "may begin with a series of introductory notes, but these apparently are not always given. The song then...accelerates and ascends, before descending and decelerating near the end". Its call has been described as a "wheezy, earthcreeper-like whee" and as a "rising, penetrating shreep! or whee". It usually sings from atop a bush or small tree.
ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
Short-billed Canastero
Asthenes baeri
The short-billed canastero is 14 to 15 cm (5.5 to 5.9 in) long and weighs 10 to 18 g (0.35 to 0.63 oz). It has a short and thick bill, and is more similar to the wholly unrelated little thornbird (Phacellodomus sibilatrix) than to other canasteros. The sexes have the same plumage. Adults of the nominate subspecies have an indistinct wide grayish supercilium on an otherwise dull grayish brown face. Their crown is dull gray-brown, their back a slightly grayer brown, and their rump and uppertail coverts gray with a brown tinge. Voice: The short-billed canastero's song is "a high-pitched, fast seep seep seepseepseep..., speeding up to and ending in a trill". Sometimes the introductory notes are omitted. It also gives a "series of short, buzzing 'pzzz' phrases.
ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
Where you might meet both
Learn this pair in the BeakBrain App
Photo and call practice. Coming soon to iPhone and Android.
Play today's Daily BirdPhotos and recordings are credited to their authors under the licence shown. Full profiles: Rusty-vented Canastero and Short-billed Canastero.