Date: Wed, 26 Sep 2001 00:22:29 -0400 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: David Mozurkewich Subject: Black-capped Chickadee In-Reply-To: <001101c14637$83d674a0$ea4e153f@computer> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Rick et al., I'm no expert, especially when it comes to chickadees. But it seems I must be suffering from some pretty serious misconceptions. Please let me know where I'm making my mistakes -- I've certainly made enough of them in this forum in the past. 1) Identification. As Rick points out, the chickadee identification problem is about as hard as they come. But that problem is the hardest for the birds from the southern part of the Black-capped range, including the resident birds in western Maryland. I do not even pretend to be able to tell most of those chickadees apart. But the birds involved in the chickadee invasions are birds heading south from Canada. And although my experience with these birds is limited, the further northeast I go, the more brightly colored the Black-capped Chickadees become. Just as southern Black-caps resemble Carolinas, northern Black-caps begin to resemble Boreals. I spent a week in March around the bay of Fundy a few years ago. The Black-capped Chickadees I saw there -- or at least the birds I called Black-capped Chickadees there -- pose an identification problem that is about as difficult as separating Phoebes from Pewees. Granted, it was the wrong time of year and a small selection of birds from a small part of the range, but from what I have heard of this discussion so far, only one species of chickadee is involved. 2) Distribution. The wayward chickadees are heading toward the southwest. This would send them through the northern tier of the state and through Western Maryland, but since there is nothing to the northeast of the Eastern Shore or Southern Maryland except open ocean and Europe, the probability of a Black-capped Chickadee in that part of the state seems pretty low indeed, except, perhaps, in spring when the birds are returning to the north. In fact, I was once told the old banding program that ran for many years in Ocean City was operating through a major chickadee invasion. The total number of Black-capped Chickadees they recorded was -- zero. 3) Now, if I am not already far enough out on a limb, let me fetch the saw. I am going to question the entry for Black-capped Chickadee in the Yellow Book. How many, if any, of the following counties have an absolutely indisputable record of Black-capped Chickadee: Worchester, Somerset, Wicomico, Dorchester, Saint Mary's, or Charles? Dave David Mozurkewich Seabrook, PG MD USA mozurk@bellAtlantic.net ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================