When we had the large flock of Carolinas with a few admixed Black-caps
with them at Lilypons last Friday, Barry and I were both surprised how
obvious the latter birds were. In flight, especially, they appear much more
"contrasty" -- if seen in flight from behind (recall these were all at eye
level
feeding on cattails heads) you see a flash of white and gray. On Sunday,
during the Sugarloaf CBC, Diane Ford and I had a (silent) Black-capped in
with a few Carolinas at Claggett, and we both immediately noted its
contrasty, bright look well before we got good (confirming) looks at the
bib,
auriculars, size contrast, and "jizz" differences. It foraged on the ground
on
some bit of vegetation only a few feet from us but unfortunately due to the
rather dark morning Diane was not able to get a photograph.
I should note that these Black-caps are a bit more sleek and less
"shaggy" than the ones I am used to in my home state of Maine. Also, I
would say, possibly a bit shorter tails.
Gail Mackiernan
Colesville, MD
Original Message:
-----------------
From: dan small
Date: Wed, 5 Jan 2011 08:33:58 -0800
To:
Subject: Re: [MDOSPREY] Black-capped Chickadee in Kent County
It was brought to my attention that I should have included some notes
in my
original post on how I determined the chickadee I had on Sunday (Jan
2nd) in
Kent County to be a Black-capped and not a Carolina. I took notes in the
field
and was of course planning on submitting them when I entered the list
into
eBird. As others on the MDOsprey have mentioned, in order to accurately
document the BCCH invasion into Maryland we should be extra careful
when
identifying chickadees and take notes in the field and get pictures when
possible. If I had been better prepared I could of easily taken a few
pictures.
Below are the notes I took after the observation.
-large all white auriculars
-jagged edge to bib
-whitish area below bib before buffy belly
-white on inner greater covs
-white on outer edge of terts, bold and extensive
-larger in size that nearby CACHs, easily picked out by naked eye
-slower raspier call than CACH, nice comparison as both species were
calling at
the same time
-also, noticeably fewer "dees" compared to CACH
Dan Small
Chestertown, MD
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