Bird Guide

White-crested Elaenia vs Yellow-bellied Elaenia

White-crested Elaenia (Elaenia albiceps)

White-crested Elaenia

Elaenia albiceps

Small16 gForest

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

Recording: steve · CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Bruno Avilez · CC BY 4.0
Yellow-bellied Elaenia (Elaenia flavogaster)

Yellow-bellied Elaenia

Elaenia flavogaster

Small25 gWoodland

The yellow-bellied elaenia is 15 to 17 cm (5.9 to 6.7 in) long and weighs 21 to 29 g (0.74 to 1.0 oz). It is medium-sized, has a small head, and a bushy crest. The sexes have the same plumage. Adults of the nominate subspecies E. f. flavogaster have a brownish olive crown with a partially concealed white stripe in the middle of the crest. They have whitish lores and a faint whitish eyering on an otherwise pale brownish olive face. Their upperparts are brownish olive. Voice: The yellow-bellied elaenia's dawn song has been rendered as "trr-dyeéuw, trr-trreeenh-weeeuw" or "we-do, we-do". Other renderings are "a series of burry teeotree or tee-tree notes interspersed with an occasional wurrTREE" and "a leisurely and buzzy spud-deeer, spud-deer-dzz, spud-deer... over and over".

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Recording: Gean Carlo Valdés · CC0
Photo: Anthony Batista · 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: White-crested Elaenia and Yellow-bellied Elaenia.