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Thread: Black-capped or Carolina?

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    BPN Member Bill Dix's Avatar
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    Default Black-capped or Carolina?

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    Taken near my feeders several days ago, in Princeton, NJ. I live in the narrow zone of overlap between Carolina and Black-capped Chickadees, and I've never been sure which I'm seeing (or both?). I've always thought ours were predominantly BC, but I'm not so sure about this one, and I've been told that the zone of interface is slowly moving northward. Can anyone tell from this image?

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    Bill- I have zero experience with Carolinas. However, I took a look at Sibley and he mentions two maybe three field marks that show here- the nape, the secondaries, and the tail length. This is tough but the tail looks long, the secondaries look edged with white, and the nape looks "mostly white" (at least not gray in contrast to the cheek). Therefore I would conclude Black-capped.

    However, I'm prepared to be shot-down on ID. That's what I'm here for!

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    Bill, looking at the Christmas Bird Count data for the Princeton count, it appears that you live in the dreaded hybrid zone. When identified to species by the observers, the predominant species is Carolina, but Black-capped seems to be reported annually in some numbers. The number of chickadees left unidentified surpasses both.

    That being said, I would tell you to start keeping a close eye on your chickadees. If you look at some of the photos of Carolina and Black-capped taken within their respective solid breeding ranges, I think you'll start to pick up on the field marks. Black-cappeds are already making a major push southward this winter (they are an irruptive species in our area), including reports already from Delaware. I had my first of the season by late September and I have at least one showing up at my feeder about 35 miles or so north and west of Philadelphia.

    I would tend to call your chickadee a Carolina. At this time of year, you'd expect fairly bright white edging on the wing coverts of Black-capped, and your bird does not have that. Although this is subjective, and doing it for one photo is perilous, I'd also say that the bulk around the head and neck are better for Carolina.

    Just to make matters worse, Dr. Bob Curry (probably the foremost expert on Black-capped / Carolina interbreeding) has said that after hybrid backcrosses, you can't really identify all birds by sight. Carolinas are moving north by swamping Black-cappeds within the hybridization zone, and a hybrid crossed with a pure Carolina is apparently going to look a lot like a Carolina. The good news is that while the line is moving north, at least its not getting wider. Apparently the latitudinal width is roughly 10 miles throughout most of the hybrid zone.

    Time to get Nikon and Canon to add DNA test kits to their long lenses!

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    Thanks Paul and a big welcome to BPN. Look forward to receiving your expertise on other posts. Are you are photographer? Silly question I guess as you are here! Anyway look forward to seeing some images from you as well.

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    Hi, John. I've been a birder since I was 12 years old (I'll be 50 next year), but I've been a photographer for all of 12 months. I joined BPN because I obviously have a LOT to learn. Reading the comments on exposure, cropping, background selection (when possible), angle of the subject, etc. has been enormously helpful. Much of the post-processing end of things is still beyond where I've dared to tread, but we'll see where I end up ... either at hobby or obsession. ;-)

    BPN has pulled together an awfully talented group here. Thanks for the resource.

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    BPN Member Bill Dix's Avatar
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    Thanks John and Paul. Paul, welcome to BPN! I appreciate the useful info. I've looked at the Sibley field mark descriptions a hundred times, and still can't always seem to apply them to my chickadees. In the past I've been fairly confident of BC identity because of strong white edges to secondaries, which as you point out seem (maybe?) to be lacking here. I've also been told that the BC shows white markings on the coverts, splayed like the blade of a hockey stick, which I'm not seeing here (maybe that's the edging you referred to). Thus my hesitation to call this a Black-capped. For a long time I was happy just to record them as BC/C chickadees per Project FeederWatch protocol, but I guess I'll have to start paying closer attention to the details. If anyone else has any thoughts, please chime in.

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    Bill, the main area to look at is the greater coverts, particularly above the secondaries. Here's a good bird topography chart that clearly points out where the greater coverts are:

    http://www.birding.in/bird_topography.htm

    Now look at this photo of a Black-capped Chickadee. You can see that the feathers that make up the upper part of the greater coverts are heavily edged in white. This shows up very well in any decent light.

    http://www.birdforum.net/opus/Black-Capped_Chickadee

    The next 4-5 months or so are the best time to identify Black-capped while their plumage is still pretty fresh. As we start moving into spring, the white edges will start to wear away, making identification tougher. Edges wear first of course, and white feathers tend to be softer than darker feathers so the white edging will wear off relatively quickly. I've got some Black-bellied Plover photos from late winter where the white spotting on some of the feather edges has worn off so completely, the edge of the feather slightly resembles a serrated knife.

    Hope this helps. (I've seen some of your pictures and sure as heck won't be commenting on the technical or artistic aspects of your photography!)

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    BPN Member Bill Dix's Avatar
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    Thank you Paul. That's very helpful.

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    Hey Paul, Thanks at ton for sharing your knowledge and welcome. Even though I am the world's worst birder by ear, is there not a difference in the songs of the two species. Memory says that the Carolinas have a faster song...
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    OK Paul I see the difference between Bill's bird and the image on the link wrt the upper part of the greater coverts. I could be convinced that the nape is not as white as the cheek too.

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    Here's a Black-capped for comparison. Now I can see a lot of differences!

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    I would caution everyone as to comparing images of birds of unknown ages and birds photographed in different lighting conditions...
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    Quote Originally Posted by Arthur Morris View Post
    I would caution everyone as to comparing images of birds of unknown ages and birds photographed in different lighting conditions...
    Quite true, and I apologise if posting this image was misleading because that was not my intention.

    The lighting on Bill's image does I think make the white edges on the secondaries look lighter and more similar to the Black-capped. BTW, Peterson says the white edging on the greater coverts and secondaries is "not safe" to tell the two species apart. He was obviously keenly aware of the similarity of the two species. He also advised to use voice (and range) to tell the two apart, but Sibley discounts voice because it is learned and "individuals can learn the wrong song type".

    I picked the BCCH image to show the "heavily edged in white" greater coverts that Paul talked about and in the soft light of that image, they should stand out less, but instead they are very obvious in comparison to Bill's. My image also shows the really white nape.

    I am unfamiliar with the immature plumages of these two species at this time of year. Please enlighten.
    Last edited by John Chardine; 10-20-2010 at 07:04 AM. Reason: spelling

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    Hey John, I do not have the specific knowledge necessary to enlighten on the various plumages of the two species but I have been around birds and photography long enough to suggest caution when using images to make close ID calls :)
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    BPN Member Bill Dix's Avatar
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    All good points made above. This has been very helpful. I had feared that my image was too contrasty to be definitive when looking at the nape, cheek, or secondary edges. But to my eye, the difference in greater coverts between the OP and John's bird could be enough to be diagnostic. Artie's caution is well taken, especially for two species this close together, and within the "dreaded hybrid zone". Thank you all for commenting.

    PS. Funniest thing. Minutes after writing the above, I went to fill my feeders. As I was doing so, a chickadee landed on one of the feeders less than 24" from my face, and sat there long enough for a very good look. Presumably a young one, very fresh plumage. Now better versed in what to look for, I could clearly see the strong white edges on the secondaries, and the clear edging of the greater coverts. These marks were not evident in another bird I scrutinized from the breakfast table earlier this morning. So I'm now convinced for the first time that we have both species at our feeders. Thanks to BPN for helping me through this.
    Last edited by Bill Dix; 10-20-2010 at 08:44 AM. Reason: PS new observation

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    Quote Originally Posted by Arthur Morris View Post
    Hey Paul, Thanks at ton for sharing your knowledge and welcome. Even though I am the world's worst birder by ear, is there not a difference in the songs of the two species. Memory says that the Carolinas have a faster song...
    First, I think you may be confusing "song" and "call". Song is for mate attraction, territorial defense, etc. Black-capped has a two note whistled "tee-too" (or any of a half dozen other mnemonics people use) while Carolina has a four note whistled "tee-too see-too" with the 3rd syllable being a higher pitch. Calls have other purposes like contact with others in the flock or predator alerts. The most recognized call is the namesake "chicka-dee-dee-dee". Both Carolina and Black-capped give this type of call, but Carolina is faster as you noted as well as being higher pitched.

    BUT (there is always a "but" with chickadees, particularly where Bill lives) birds can and will sing each other's songs, and hybrids can sound like either or even sound intermediate. So song or call would be a good indicator, but not a slam-dunk.

    When we built our home, we unknowingly moved into a last gasp pocket of Black-cappeds and hybrids surrounded by a sea of Carolinas. All birds sang like Black-cappeds, but they didn't all look like them. Per Dr. Bob Curry's research, females tend to move in first (the sultry little temptresses) so that might not be a shock. After two years, I stopped seeing any solid Black-cappeds during the breeding season. After about 8-9 years, all the obvious hybrids disappeared too. I imagine there is still some Black-capped DNA sloshing around in my local gene pool, but you'd need a test tube to detect it.

    FYI, when I say "obvious hybrids", these are birds with the pale feather edges on the greater coverts, but these edges are obviously tan and not white. I observed these for years before running into Dr. Bob, who confirmed that this is a field mark for hybrids. Again, beware of backcrosses that move a hybrid more and more towards one species over the other (usually towards Carolina).

    If you ever get a chance to see Dr. Bob Curry from Villanova University speak about his chickadee research at a local bird club, I can't recommend it enough. He's a very good speaker and information is presented so that those of us who are not professional ornithologists can understand it. He speaks sometimes at local bird clubs in the Philadelphia area. DVOC in Philadelphia has hosted him twice on the subject just to hear the updates on his research. (Spoiler Alert: Carolina Chickadees have started to show up in their northern study site at the Hawk Mountain Sanctuary.)

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