Bird Guide

Scaled Antpitta vs Tawny Antpitta

Scaled Antpitta (Grallaria guatimalensis)

Scaled Antpitta

Grallaria guatimalensis

Medium94 gForest

Grallaria antpittas are a "wonderful group of plump and round antbirds whose feathers are often fluffed up...they have stout bills very short tails". The scaled antpitta is 15 to 19 cm (5.9 to 7.5 in) long and weighs 70 to 98 g (2.5 to 3.5 oz). The sexes have the same plumage. Adults of the nominate subspecies G. g. guatimalensis have a pale olive brownish forecrown with fine black scaling and a gray crown and nape. They have whitish or buffy lores, olive brown ear coverts with thin streaks, and blue-gray skin around their eye. Voice: The song of most subspecies of scaled antpitta is "a rapid series of quavering, hollow notes lasting 2-7 seconds, slowly increasing in volume and pitch and then quickly becoming quieter at the end: cau, cau, cau-cau-caucaucaucau, cau". That of subspecies G. g.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Sonogram of the Scaled Antpitta
Recorded by Niels Krabbe · Song · Zamora-Chinchipe: E Chito Juntas, Ecuador · CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Ryan F. Mandelbaum · CC BY 4.0
Tawny Antpitta (Grallaria quitensis)

Tawny Antpitta

Grallaria quitensis

Medium66 gShrubland

The tawny antpitta is 16 to 18 cm (6.3 to 7.1 in) long and weighs between 58 and 81 g (2.0 and 2.9 oz). The sexes have the same plumage. Adults have pale buff lores and are whitish around the eye on an otherwise olive brown to rufous olive face. They have mostly pale brown to olive brown crown, nape, back, wings, and tail. Their crown and back have a slight gray wash and their rump is browner, almost clay-colored. Their primaries have pale buff leading edges and blackish to blackish olive trailing vanes. Their chin and throat are whitish. Voice: Despite its generally open habitat, the tawny antpitta is more often heard than seen. Its basic song is "a simple, three-note vocalization that starts with a short, even, overslurred note followed by a pause, and then two slightly longer overslurred notes at a slightly lower pitch in quick succession" that lasts about 1.1 to 1.3 seconds.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Sonogram of the Tawny Antpitta
Recorded by Niels Krabbe · Song · Cotopaxi: Laguna de Limpiopungo, Ecuador · CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Michael Woodruff from Spokane, Washington, USA · 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: Scaled Antpitta and Tawny Antpitta.