Greetings,

Last year I had put up a bird house with a camera mounted in it. A pair of Black Capped Chickadees moved in. The female had white markings on her head and was a bird I had seen eating sunflower seeds in my yard the fall before. This March I noticed a Black Capped Chickadee in the yard that had more white on it's head then the one from last year. I had wondered if it was the same bird but getting whiter as it changed out feathers with age.
Today as I walked past one of the new bird houses I put up two months ago, a whiter headed chickadee with moss flew past me and went in. A normal colored chickadee also was going in and out of the box but not bringing nesting material. It took up a singing post and intercepted the other chickadees in the area too close to the house.
The chickadee chicks that left the nest last year appeared to all be normal in color while in the box, (video link below) I never did see them once they left. Now I have seen a white headed chickadee entering the old box box in the past week but now I am not sure if the birds are the same, related or coincidental. I have not been able to photograph this one yet.

For the group to ponder...

Does a bird that is leucistic change color pattern as it ages or is the pattern "fixed"?
What are the chances that I have two white headed chickadees on opposite sides of my property at the same time?
Both appear to be female, does that have anything to do with anything?

I have never seen any chickadees with abnormal coloration in the past twenty-four years in the area. I thought is was rare enough to see one, now Two?
Here is a link to a my Flicker set for these birds. Please look them over and let me know what you think.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/25348030 at N07/sets/72157623629405792/

Thanks in advance! Take care,
Dea Just