Subject: Black-capped Chickadee with white eye-stripe, or Mountain Chickadee?
Date: Feb 28 01:45:56 2004
From: Inga Holmquist - ingawh at yahoo.com


I have a chickadee at my feeders who sports a thin and
somewhat patchy white superciliary eye stripe, but
given my location, I wonder if it's just an aberrant
plumage of the black-capped, rather than an actual
mountain chickadee. I live just outside of Orting in
low hills to the northwest of Mount Rainier. I have
seen this bird on a number of occasions this winter.

We're only about 200 to 300 feet above sea level in a
sparsely developed area where each home has about 5 to
10 acres, and there is a mix of cedars, Douglas fir,
hemlock, alder and maple.

Can anyone tell if my chickadee is more likely to be
1) a mountain chickadee a little out of its usual
range, 2) a black-capped chickadee showing a bit of
the white eye-stripe, or 3) any chance these two
species hybridize?

(I read in Sibley that other chickadee species besides
mountain chickadees do occasionally have signs of the
white eye-stripe, but I have no idea how common it
might be, and given my location, it seems other
possibilities could be reasonable.)

Has anyone else out there seen black-capped chickadees
with a ragged-looking white eye-stripe, and if so, do
they tend to occur in any particular areas?

Any thoughts from the group would be welcomed. Thanks!

=====
Inga Holmquist
P.O. Box 1141
Orting, WA 98360
ingawh at yahoo.com

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