Bird Guide

Small-billed Elaenia vs White-crested Elaenia

Small-billed Elaenia (Elaenia parvirostris)

Small-billed Elaenia

Elaenia parvirostris

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The small-billed elaenia is 13 to 15 cm (5.1 to 5.9 in) long. It is a small elaenia without a crest. The sexes have the same plumage. Adults have a bright olive-green crown with a partially visible white stripe in the middle. They have whitish lores and a thin but distinct white eyering. Their upperparts are bright olive-green. Their wings are dusky with whitish tips on the coverts that show as three wing bars. Their flight feathers have narrow whitish edges. Their tail is dusky. Voice: The small-billed elaenia's dawn song is "a stuttering, deep, gravelly PEE-jip-p'p'jooee?". It has also been written as a "hurried, strong 'Wee-dr-dee-wuh' ". It is mostly silent on its wintering grounds but does make "a soft 'cheeu' " call there.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: (c) Reinaldo de Oliveira Elias, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Reinaldo de Oliveira Elias · cc-by
White-crested Elaenia (Elaenia albiceps)

White-crested Elaenia

Elaenia albiceps

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The white-crested elaenia is 13.5 to 15 cm (5.3 to 5.9 in) long and weighs 12.5 to 24.2 g (0.44 to 0.85 oz). It is a small to medium size elaenia with a small bushy crest. The sexes have the same plumage. Adults of the nominate subspecies E. a. albiceps have a mostly dull olive to olive-gray head with a partially hidden white or creamy white stripe in the middle of the crest. They have whitish lores and eyering. Their upperparts are dull olive to olive-gray. Their wings are dusky with white or whitish tips on the coverts that show as two wing bars. Voice: The white-crested elaenia's vocalizations apparently differ somewhat among the subspecies, though not all have been studied in detail. The dawn song of E. a. griseigularis is "a series of deep, burry, falling-rising djeewee notes interspersed with occasional per'brr'djwee notes" and its calls are "a low, rich, modulated djur and a longer, descending djeeer". The dawn song of E. a.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Sonogram of the White-crested Elaenia
Recorded by steve · Call · Natales (near Puerto Prat), Última Esperanza, Magallanes y la Antártica Chilena, Chile · CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Fornés Sebastián Fornés · CC BY 4.0

Where you might meet both

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Photos and recordings are credited to their authors under the licence shown. Full profiles: Small-billed Elaenia and White-crested Elaenia.