On Mon, 6 Jun 1994, Dennis Paulson wrote:

>
> I checked our WA specimens of Boreal Chickadees, and their cap color looked
> about like the illustration in the NGS guide. I hope I'm not being tactless
> if I ask if you know that Chestnut-backed Chickadees are common high in the
> mountains.
>
> Dennis Paulson

Thanks for checking the specimens. I have never seen them in WA before,
but I have seen several in different locales in Alaska, and always got
the impression that the caps looked darker than in the NG book. I think
it was the vocalizations that really cued me; they were unlike any
Chestnut-backs or Mountains I have heard (I have heard many). But
perhaps they could be aberrant juvenile Chestnut-backs. I know what they
weren't: Mounain (saw the face, no eye-line, plus voice is different),
Black-caps (based on voice mostly, habitat, and top of head), adult
Chestnut-backs (field marks, and voice). Gene Hunn has suggested they
were juvenile Chestnut-backeds, and I suppose they could be, with perhaps
an aberrant vocalization. But (for what's it worth), I believe they were
Boreals, based on the voice, and the heads. I wouldn't bet my life on
it; but I'm pretty certain what I heard and saw is exactly what I've heard
and seen in Alaska (in Anchorage, Palmer, and Cordova) on those occasions
when I've come across Boreals. And no, I don't suppose it's tactless to
ask if I knew about Chestnut-backs, because it's good to be skeptical.
Especially when a species is that far out of range, and you don't know
the observer. If roles were reversed, I would have asked the same question.

Thanks for all the comments so far, any more would be appreciated...

Mike Smith
University of Washington
whimbrel at u.washington.edu