Hello.
Is there any difference in the meaning between the following two sentences?
Two birds are perched on a branch of that tree.
Two birds are perching on a branch of that tree.
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I would say that the difference is quite subtle and comes down to emphasis. In "are perched", the writer is emphasising the birds' (precarious) location (similar to "the fortress was perched on the cliff"), whereas, in "are perching", the writer has chosen to focus more on the action itself. That said, I would be interested to hear others' opinions. 
@MlleSim posted:I would say that the difference is quite subtle and comes down to emphasis. In "are perched", the writer is emphasising the birds' (precarious) location (similar to "the fortress was perched on the cliff"), whereas, in "are perching", the writer has chosen to focus more on the action itself. That said, I would be interested to hear others' opinions.
I agree. The -ed form does suggest passivity, as opposed to the more active -ing variant. I guess there are very few verbs that offer this duality. In general, different verbs will be required to express those two meanings, or nuances:
- be seated / be sitting
- be bent / be leaning
- be suspended / be hanging
Thank you so much, MlleSim-san and Gustavo-san.
I agree with the answers provided by MlleSim and Gustavo, and would like simply to point out that the sentence with "are perching," but not the sentence with "are perched," could be used if the speaker wished to refer to the birds' coming to rest on a perch rather than their already being at rest on a perch.
@David, Moderator posted:I agree with the answers provided by MlleSim and Gustavo, and would like simply to point out that the sentence with "are perching," but not the sentence with "are perched," could be used if the speaker wished to refer to the birds' coming to rest on a perch rather than their already being at rest on a perch.
This is new to me! Do you feel the same can be said about the "sitting/seated" example mentioned by Gustavo above? I must admit that I have never "sensed" this nuance before.
(a) "A girl was sitting on the bench."
(b) "A girl was seated on the bench."
@MlleSim posted:This is new to me! Do you feel the same can be said about the "sitting/seated" example mentioned by Gustavo above? I must admit that I have never "sensed" this nuance before.
(a) "A girl was sitting on the bench."
(b) "A girl was seated on the bench."
Yes, I do feel the same way about it: (a) can be about the past inception of her sitting, or it can be about her being in a sitting state, but (b) can only be about her being in a seated state (though it also admits a passive reading).