Black-capped or Carolina chickadee? (USA, DE) (1 Viewer)

[ShortyTheSpotter]

Hi Folks,

I tried to identify the attached bird but I have a really hard time to see the difference. My biggest problem is that some of the differences seem to be mixed up to me.

1. the secondary's are more white than grey in my opinion, what gives a point to the black-capped chickadee.
2. black-capped has more white on the neck, carolina chickadee is more white/ grayish. Another point for the black-capped
3. I read that the black-capped chickadee has four or five inner feathers white, I would say thats not the case here. what brings a point to the carolina chickadee

I can not say anything about the size, since I haven't seen both birds yet (and identified them). I had a similar problem with the downy and the hairy woodpecker in the past and some people said "well you can tell it on their size difference" - if you never seen the other bird then you clearly don't know what that means or how to compare it. After I saw both, I can now clearly identify them.

Maybe someone can help me here to identify the bird. Could it maybe a hybrid? The bird was seen in the Delaware/ Pennsylvania Area.

Thank you

 

[tom baxter]

Hi Folks,

I tried to identify the attached bird but I have a really hard time to see the difference. My biggest problem is that some of the differences seem to be mixed up to me.

1. the secondary's are more white than grey in my opinion, what gives a point to the black-capped chickadee.
2. black-capped has more white on the neck, carolina chickadee is more white/ grayish. Another point for the black-capped
3. I read that the black-capped chickadee has four or five inner feathers white, I would say thats not the case here. what brings a point to the carolina chickadee

I can not say anything about the size, since I haven't seen both birds yet (and identified them). I had a similar problem with the downy and the hairy woodpecker in the past and some people said "well you can tell it on their size difference" - if you never seen the other bird then you clearly don't know what that means or how to compare it. After I saw both, I can now clearly identify them.

Maybe someone can help me here to identify the bird. Could it maybe a hybrid? The bird was seen in the Delaware/ Pennsylvania Area.

Thank you

Looks pretty good for Carolina Chickadee in my opinion. Usually Black-capped is usually very white in your box #3. These are very tough birds to identify and in the mixing zone they are frequently not identifiable with certainty.

 

[KC Foggin]

I'm going with Carolina Chickadee.

 

[Microtus]

It's a Carolina Chickadee.

 

[ShortyTheSpotter]

Thanks a lot for your answers!

Can someone explain why you come to the conclusion why it is a Carolina Chickadee? What made the difference?
Would be nice to know so I can get better with my IDs.

 

[Jeff Hopkins]

First off, Carolina is much more expected in Delaware. The hybrid zone is a lot further north. Second there is no white in the wing or on the coverts. A Black-cap would have a lot of white in the wing and coverts. Third, the flanks are greyish like a Carolina, not orange-buff like a Black-capped. And as Tom Baxter noted, a Carolina has some grey in the side of the nape (as your bird shows) where a Black-capped is very clean white.