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Re: Black-capped Chickadee in Kent County

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Thu, 6 Jan 2011 07:48:51 -0500

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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