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Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapilla)
Above and below four: Black-capped Chickadees in Garrett and Allegany Counties, Maryland (9/29/2007).
Below: A tame Black-capped Chickadee accepts hand-outs on Amhert Island, Ontario, Canada (2/2005).
Above and below: Two Black-capped Chickadees visiting Eden Mill Park, Harford Co., Maryland (11/7/2010). When I posted about this sighting, Les Eastman told me that they'd banded one at this location. Did it look like the one above?
Below: One of three Black-capped Chickadees visiting Blue Mash Nature Trail, Montgomery Co., Maryland (11/1/2010).
Below: Black-capped Chickadees visiting Hashawha Environmental Center, Carroll Co., Maryland (11/6/2010).
Below: Black-capped Chickadees in northeastern Frederick Co., Maryland (11/6/2010).
Below: A Black-capped Chickadee in Perryman, southwestern Harford Co., Maryland (12/11/2010).
Below are four photos of a vagrant Black-capped Chickadee taken in western Cecil Co., Maryland (12/4/2005).
Below: Recently fledged young at Finzel Swamp in Garrett Co., Maryland (7/29/05).
Below: A Black-capped Chickadee leads the protest against visiting birders in Washington Co., Maryland (10/3/2009). This individual was photographed on Sideling Hill, barely into the Black-capped side of the hybridization zone with Carolina Chickadee. Although it looks like a pure Black-capped, this bird lives way to close to Woodmont Road to not have a couple Carolina genes.
Below: A freaky intergrade chickadee in western Washington Co., Maryland (6/4/2011). Note the messy bib, long tail, and white secondary edges that suggest Black-capped Chickadee, but the lack of white in the coverts and dirty white cheeks that are more supportive of Carolina. Its voice was intermediate in quality, tending more toward Black-capped.
Comments: The Black-capped Chickadee is almost identical to the Carolina Chickadee, but the two have little range overlap. While the Carolina Chickadee is a year-round resident from central Maryland south to central Florida and west to Texas, the Black-capped Chickadee takes the more northern and western range. It is resident as far west as northern California and Alaska. The Black-capped Chickadee is larger, has white edging on the wings, and a black "bib" that extends further down its chest. They are most easily distinguised by their songs.
The Black-capped Chickadee nests in woodland areas, but spends much of its time at feeders in suburban areas. As shown above, this species can become quite tolerant of humans, and will sometimes eat from one's hand. The killer chickadees of Amherst Island, Ontario, where the top photo was taken, are known for their extreme willingness to do so. Chickadees form mixed foraging flocks outside of breeding season, and are often found with titmice, nuthatches, kinglets, and the smaller woodpeckers. If the nest is disturbed, the female hisses like a snake to deter potential predators.
MDOsprey post from Jim Stasz (11/9/2005): "I might add something that is not in most field guides. If you look at
where the black of the head meets the nape, on Carolina the black is rounded and has a limited boundary with the gray
back and on Black-capped, the nape is squared with a larger shared boundary with the gray of the back. Additionally,
the corners of the bib on Black-capped are 'ragged' The Black-caps that are arriving are from the northern subspecies and are different from the residents of western Maryland and
most of Pennsylvania. They average larger, have proportionately long tails [watch when they fly onerhead] and the very white cheeks
really contrast with the underparts..."