Scaly-throated Leaftosser
Sclerurus guatemalensis
The scaly-throated leaftosser is 16.5 to 18 cm (6.5 to 7.1 in) long and weighs about 35 g (1.2 oz). The sexes are alike. Adults of the nominate subspecies have a dark brown crown and nape with a scalloped appearance. Their back is dark brown, their rump and uppertail coverts reddish brown, and their tail is a darker brown than their back. Their flight feathers are dusky. Their face is shades of brown. Their chin and throat feathers are whitish with darker margins that give a scaly appearance. Voice: The scaly-throated leaftosser's song has been described as "a beautiful, clear trill", as "a descending series of accented whistles", and as "a slightly laughing, rippling series of 7-12 or more sharp, slightly liquid week or swee notes". Its call has been described as "a piercing wheek", "a sharp, sometimes metallic pick or zick", and "a sharp, explosive squeak! or sweeik".
ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
Tawny-throated Leaftosser
Sclerurus mexicanus
The tawny-throated leaftosser is 15 to 17 cm (5.9 to 6.7 in) long and weighs 24 to 30 g (0.85 to 1.1 oz). The sexes are alike. Adults of the nominate subspecies have a dark reddish to chestnut brown head, upperparts, and tail, and chestnut rump and uppertail coverts. Their wings are darker brown than their back. Their throat and chest are tawny-rufous and the rest of their underparts similar to their back. Their fairly long and slightly decurved bill has a dark maxilla and a bicolored mandible. Their iris is brown and their legs and feet are dark brownish gray. Voice: The song of the tawny-throated leaftosser varies somewhat in pitch and number of notes between the subspecies, but is generally "a descending series of 3-9 fairly long high-pitched overslurred whistles Pseeer!-pseeer-pseer-pseer-pseer". It may start with "sharp spik! notes" and end with a "few stuttering short notes". Its principal call is a "short sharp explosive single note Tseek! or Skweek!".
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: Scaly-throated Leaftosser and Tawny-throated Leaftosser.