Subject: Black-capped Chickadee with white eye-stripe, or Mountain Chickadee?
Date: Feb 28 10:25:47 2004
From: Eugene and Nancy Hunn - enhunn at comcast.net


Inga,

I saw one like that recently at Winthrop at a feeder. I suspect it could
have been a hybrid as there were both black-capped and mountains in the
area, except that it looked basically like a black-capped. There are other
subtle differences between black-capped and mountain you might check for,
e.g., grayer flanks on the mountain versus buffy in the black-capped,
plainer wing panel on the mountain versus more contrasting white edging on
the black-capped, plus vocal differences, the mountain hoarser. If it were
intermediate in several respects it would most likely qualify as a hybrid.
If it were exactly like a black-capped in all respects but the narrow
supercilium, then probably a deviant black-capped.

Gene Hunn
enhunn at comcast.net
----- Original Message -----
From: "Inga Holmquist" <ingawh at yahoo.com>
To: <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
Sent: Saturday, February 28, 2004 1:45 AM
Subject: Black-capped Chickadee with white eye-stripe, or Mountain
Chickadee?


> 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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