Chickadees
February 25, 2025
I've found it difficult to get a good clear picture of a Chickadee. In the woods they are fast and cautious, but they hold still longer at the bird feeder. Figuring out if I have a picture of a Black-capped or Carolina Chickadee is just as challenging.
Birders (am I a birder if I don't keep a life list? Probably not.) Discuss and or argue over the species that are difficult to tell apart. Is it a Sharp-shinned or Cooper's hawk? Is it an American tree sparrow or chipping sparrow? Is it a Downy woodpecker or a Hairy woodpecker?
Our part of the world is within a wide meeting line for the Black-Capped Chickadee's range to the north and the Carolina Chickadee's range to the South.
I have an app on my phone that can identify bird calls called Merlin. It's typically pretty decisive and reasonably accurate, but it is sometimes confused. Its told me that it is hearing both a Black-capped and Carolina Chickadee at the same time. It seems the two are calls are pretty similar.
Of course the answer to all this may be that the Chickadees at the park are hybrids of the two species, because they can successfully interbreed. For the time being I am going with that explanation.
Not knowing precisely which Chickadee I am looking at doesn't bother me. I've looked forward to seeing them since I was a child. They are energetic, loud, entertaining birds no matter their pedigree.
