Date: Mon, 23 Dec 2002 21:18:54 -0500 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Stan Arnold Subject: Re: BC Chickadee & waterfowl, Loch Raven MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Bob, I also had a similar sighting a couple years ago along the Susquehenna, down from Conowingo, when I was sure I had a Black-capped Chickadee by sight and sound. What criteria do banders use to confirm the species? I don't have a copy of Pyle available. Do they look for specific field marks (greater coverts, secondaries, bib delineation, size, tail length...) or do they have to judge based on a preponderance of evidence (more characteristics of one species vs another). I remember when Rick Blom did his big year in Harford Co. that he picked up BC Chickadee, but I don't recall what criteria for identification he used. Of course, he had ten times the experience that I have, and I remember him telling me of one of the big Black-cap invasions during his early days of birding. I'm not sure how to categorize the sighting. It's hard to call something that looks and sounds like a Black-cap anything else, but I don't have a good sense of the extent of overlap and hybridization. Stan Arnold Glen Burnie dy.dx@verizon.net ----- Original Message ----- From: "Robert Ringler" To: Sent: Sunday, December 22, 2002 5:45 AM Subject: Re: [MDOSPREY] BC Chickadee & waterfowl, Loch Raven > Stan, > With no invasion of Black-capped Chickadees this year it's tough > to pick > out an out-of-range bird. We suspect that occasionally a Black-cap > will stray into Carolina Chickadee country but we don't have any hard > evidence of > this. You need the bird in the hand to be sure. The possibility of hybrids > also exists. Carolinas in the northern part of their range may > approach Black-caps in characteristics. All of this is just a > cautionary note. The > bottom line is you are on your own for the identification. > We have not had a major Black-capped Chickadee irruption into > Maryland for 19 years. Prior to that there was one every decade at > irregular intervals. In other years either there was no movement of > Black-caps or the > invasion stopped before it got to Maryland or a few trickled into the state > near the Pennsylvania line. There is no evidence that Black-caps in > the southern part of the range move at all, though there may be some down-slope > movement in the mountains. All the banding evidence indicates that > Black-cap invasions come from eastern Canada. > If anyone else can shed some light on the subject I would be > pleased to > hear other comments. > > Bob Ringler > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: Stan Arnold > To: > Sent: Saturday, December 21, 2002 9:21 PM > Subject: [MDOSPREY] BC Chickadee & waterfowl, Loch Raven > > > > Hi Folks, > > > > I took advantage of the nice weather today to avoid the holiday shoppers, > > and try to fill in some gaps in my Baltimore County waterfowl list > > at Loch > > Raven Reservoir. Most of my time was spent at the Skeet Club, off > > of Dulaney Valley Rd. The most interesting find came as I was > > leaving there, > > and I heard the two-noted song of what sure sounded like > > BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEE. I spished, and scanned the large flocks of > > White-throated Sparrows, and within a minute I was viewing a > > chickadee with not only a significant amount of white edging to the > > secondaries, but also a lot of white in the greater coverts. The > > pinkish buff of the flanks appeared brighter than on the typical > > Carolina Chickadee. All in all, I thought > this > > was a darn good candidate for a Black-cap. > > ====================================================================== > = > To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com > with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey > ======================================================================= > ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================