Sooty-capped Hermit
Phaethornis augusti
The sooty-capped hermit is about 14 to 15 cm (5.5 to 5.9 in) long. Males weigh 4.5 to 6 g (0.16 to 0.21 oz) and females 4 to 5 g (0.14 to 0.18 oz). They are mostly grayish brown above with a rufous rump and uppertail coverts. The next-to-inner tail feathers are longer than the others and all have white tips. Their underparts are gray. The face has a black "mask" with a white supercilium and gular stripe. The subspecies differ slightly in the intensity of the breast and uppertail covert colors and the size of the gular stripe. What was once thought to be a separate species P. Voice: The sooty-capped hermit's song is "a continuously repeated phrase consisting of 2–3 high notes followed by 2–3 somewhat lower ones, e.g. 'tsee-tsee-tsee-sew-sew....tsee-tsee-tsee-sew-sew...'." The male sings from a perch at a lek while wagging its tail. It also makes a "rather monotonous 'tseet'" call.
ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
Straight-billed Hermit
Phaethornis bourcieri
The straight-billed hermit is 12 to 14 cm (4.7 to 5.5 in) long and weighs 3.5 to 5 g (0.12 to 0.18 oz). It is one of the few hermit hummingbirds with a straight bill. Its upperparts are olive green and the underparts brownish to grayish. The innermost pair of tail feathers are longer than the others and have long white tips; the others also have white tips. P. b. major is significantly larger than the nominate but has similar plumage. Voice: The straight-billed hermit's song is "a high-pitched phrase repeated over and over, punctuated by short dull-sounding notes, 'tsii'ti'ti'tsii...tip...tip...tsii'ti'ti'tsii....tip...tip...tip...'", and is very different from the songs of other Phaethornis hermits. Its calls are usually given in flight and include "a rather monotonous 'tseet' and a dull 'chep'."
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: Sooty-capped Hermit and Straight-billed Hermit.