Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Black-capped & Mountain Chickadees

This is the first time I've had a Mountain Chickadee as a yard bird!


We have several Black-capped Chickadees around our home and I enjoy hearing them calling outside, even when I am indoors.  Chickadees just make me happy.  Having another kind of Chickadee in my yard is just cool!

Identification of Mountain Chickadees is pretty simple.  I just look for that white eyebrow.  That is the easiest and quickest characteristic to separate it from all other chickadees.  Their calls are similar to B-C Chickadees, but different.  Mountain Chickadees seem to me to be a bit smaller too.

Black-capped Chickadee
Here are a couple other views of the Mountain Chickadee I enjoyed in my backyard the other day.


Here's a post from a few months back about Carolina Chickadees and how they compare to Black-capped Chickadees.

11 comments:

  1. I had my very first BC chickadee in my yard this winter season too. Congrats!

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  2. Fantastic! We have lots of BC Chickadees visiting our feeders but I have never seen a Mountain Chickadee before. So very cute. Chickadees are certainly a joy to observe. So very curious and tame. Enjoy your new guests!

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  3. @ABranch - Now that you mention it...I hadn't thought about it before...but this yard is my first that can boast the Black-capped Chickadee on my yard list. So both BC and Mtn are new yard birds for me!

    @Julie G - The Mtn. Chickadee does seem a lot more skittish than the BC's, but I when camping in the mtns of Idaho and Utah, I've been able to call in Mtn. Chickadees and they come to within feet of you. Pretty cool!

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  4. We are lousy with Black-capped Chickadees here. They are the only chickadee I've ever seen. Mountains are so cute, congrats on getting it on your yard list!

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  5. @Amy - Thanks for dropping by Birding is Fun! and for leaving a comment. Here's to wishing you see many varieties of chickadees in the future.

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  6. I also have a yard full of BC Chickadees but have never seen a Mountain..I thought I had one in the yard last spring but it turned out to be a Black-throated Gray Warbler.

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  7. @YsMum - Now I would love to see a Black-throated Gray Warbler anywhere!

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  8. Lovely pics! I have never seen a Mountain Chickadee before - they are a world away for me. Next on my wish list, to see a Boreal Chickadee in Northern VT.

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  9. @Hilke, I'm with ya on hoping to see the Boreal Chickadee.

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  10. One of the best things about living along the Wasatch Front is that overlap in species seen from valley birds to mountian birds! How exciting!

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  11. @Kathiesbirds Amen to that! This mountain + lake zone of habitat is pretty cool.

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