January is the time when the word Midwest becomes Latin for “find your mittens”. Lucky for us, some Mesopotamian genius in the 4th millennium solved this problem by strategically placing a sturdy stick between two cylindrical objects and soon after, “Snowbirds” was being etched on cave walls. Of course, now we have fancy glamping portable homes sitting on those rolling contraptions making this human migration far more pleasant. Pleasant being a relative word as our annual trek hasn’t exactly gone as planned. We go south to shed the layers of clothing, this year we are adding them thanks to a band of frigid air riding shotgun to Arizona – and now we might be greeted with the fluffy white crap looming near week’s end. Damn you Mr. Snow Miser (link here)! While we get this setback sorted out, Brad is going to jump in and bring us his first post of the new year. Let’s hope he found his mittens.
Welcome to 2024 Brad, take it away…
As birders all know, the little birds are the hardest to catch successfully. They blend into the trees. Little birds tend to be spastic. But they have some great calls and fantastic colors. Little birds are also very rewarding if you are able to capture photographs of them sitting still for a millisecond, or 1/1000th of a second for those thinking in photographic terms.
Todays’ three subjects have similar calls, but they are different enough to get your attention and all come from different parts of the country
Black-capped Chickadees (Poecile atricapillus) have a three- or four-toned call with different notes. The three-note call (Chick-a-dee) has the first note being the highest, the second a fifth lower and the third up a half-tone from the first (sounds like the last three notes from Close Encounters). Their four-note call (Chick-a-dee-dee) is a series of two notes repeated, but about a half octave apart. Most of the Black-caps near us use the three-note version, and this one from our back yard in central Illinois is no exception. This is the first bird call our daughter Allyson learned to recognize and tried to imitate when she was about four years old.
Hit the jump to learn more about the Black-capped’s kinfolk.
The Mountain Chickadee (Poecile gambeli) also uses a four-note call. The first note is faint, just below the second higher note, but the last two notes are the same, at least as far as my ears can tell. The Merlin app agrees with me on this one. We found this Mountain Chickadee while chasing a Townsend’s Solitaire in El Dorado State Park outside of Boulder Colorado (see here for that story). As their profile indicates, it was flitting form pinecone to pinecone looking for something to eat.
Carolina Chickadees (Poecile carolinensis) also have a four-note call, but to my ear it seemed a repeat of the same two tones: high and a bit lower, then repeat. Again, Merlin agrees with me, at least as much as I can hear. We found this Carolina Chickadee in . . . wait for it . . . wait for it . . . South Carolina! Ta da!
It seems that all of the chickadees extend the call with more “dee’s” if there seems to be a threat in the area. Many of the birds that “hang out” with chickadees have learned to recognize the “threat” calls and respond accordingly. Sort of like how most birds recognize Bluejay warning calls and take action. Of course, there are many variations of each of their calls. I was able to tell the Mountain call from the Black-cap call pretty easily.
At least these three Chickadee species hang around all winter long, as long as there is food, water and shelter for them. Jan and I really enjoy seeing our Black-caps hitting the feeders and heated birdbaths all winter long. We live near the southern extent of their year-round range.
Ironically, we also live near the northern extent of the Carolina Chickadee year-round range, meaning we probably have overlap from time to time based on winds and storms. Though I have not heard the Carolina calls in our yard.
The Mountain Chickadees live nowhere near us so if I see one in our backyard in Illinois it must be REALLY lost. They instead live . . . are you ready for this . . . in the Rocky Mountains and points west!
The Mountain and Black-caps are very close in size. They differ by the white band above the eye on the Mountain Chickadee. The Black-caps and Carolinas are nearly identical, but the Carolina is a bit smaller than its Midwestern cousin. This one is tired of the discussion and wants a snack.
All three species have been known to live up to 10 years or beyond, but the average age of all three is about 2-3 years. Coincidentally, all three of chickadees hang around the Tufted Titmouse. Some ornithologist believe this mixed “flocking” behavior provides more eyes and ears to watch for danger, especially during winters with a lack of cover. Birders have also observed Downy Woodpeckers relying on Chickadee/Titmouse as sentinels. Many of their warning calls sound similar enough to signal danger to other birds in the immediate area.
Thank you for reading. If you want to see more chickadee photos, please visit here.
Credits:
Thanks again to Jan for proofreading and editing. Allyson is still on assignment. Thanks to Jan for some of the photos in this article.
Wildlife Intrigued 
The forecast is for snow here in Nuevo Mexico. Roll on my wayward birders. That is a cute Mountain Chickadee. I think W.C. Fields would approve.
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Thanks Tim. I was surprised how close it let me get with the big glass. I didn’t have to use much of the zoom to catch those photos. Much more, and the lens wouldn’t focus; they were sitting that close to me.
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I’ve had that too close for focus issue, especially with the owls, but I’ve also had Bush Tits and Towhees get too close to focus. The Bazooka’s minimum focus distance is 11 feet.
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I was able to manually focus a couple of times, but usually they are too close for even that. A macro lens would have almost worked better.
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You could do a Macro My Little Chickadees post.
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My macro is a 150mm lens, I’d have to get pretty close.
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WTH – upon our arrival in Tucson the temps dropped and a day later when Ron arrived down here it snowed on us for the first day of birding. This is ridiculous, we can get that at home!!!! I think we are cursed and we are never meant to be in Arizona. Where we stayed previously (Benson) got a complete snow covering and a large swath of the area lost power. The good news is it has warmed up a bit, but the rain comes in tomorrow for our basecamp move to Phoenix. We have had a lot of fun hiking the mountains around here and we cannot complain about the birding so far.
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The dry desert and critters thank you for showering them with much needed snow and rain. Did you visit the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum? It has fun bird shows, and a really good snake exhibit I’m sure Linda would love to see. I’ve only done a little hiking in the mountains around Tucson, but I have raced bicycles in them in years past.
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We did visit the Desert Museum – very nice..a bit expensive, but very nice. We even managed to get some new birds that were hanging out there (free to roam of course). That Snake exhibit was fantastic and maybe one of the best I have seen – Denver has a nice one as well. Linda lasted about 1 minute in that building and then she bolted. We really enjoyed the Tucson mountains – wish I had more time to explore them..definitely wouldn’t want to race in them ha.
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Yes, the small birds are so hard to photograph, but the chickadees are one of my favorites because they don’t seem to be afraid of people especially around the bird feeders. I just love their song.
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Sandra, I agree. Just this morning one was singing outside our windows. I didn’t hear a reply for the poor little guy, but it just kept singing until a few minutes ago. I’ve noticed they can be a little assertive when I’m filling “their” feeders, and are often the first to return when I’m only a step or two away. Thanks for stopping by.
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I love chickadees. We have Mountain Chickadees here, they’re always so cheerful 😊
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Like they don’t have a care in the world. As long as the food supply is steady. Thanks for coming by.
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Within our local area, we typically only have Carolina Chickadees. They breed in our area but are joined by a whole bunch of their northern relatives during migration. Love hearing their clear calls and fussing in the woods at any time of year.
Thanks for a very enjoyable and educational post!
(What’s a “mitten”?)
Happy New Year, Y’all!
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Thanks Wally! HNY to you and yours. I can tell when I get too close to the feeders, the Black-caps let me know I’m in their territory. I admit it would be nice to not know what mittens are, I’ll let Brian expand.
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Ha, if you don’t need a mitten, you ain’t missin’ anything!
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We have the Carolina Chickadees here along the upper Gulf Coast, but I grew up with the Black-capped and Mountain. Though they don’t migrate, in my childhood I always associated them with winter… perhaps because they are easier to spot in the bare trees and shrubs. They always made me smile, and I was tickled to find the Carolinas in my new southern home. Great comparison photos, thanks!
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Very welcome Sam. We were fortunate enough to see all three in less than a year. As I write this, the Black-caps are singing outside the window. The songs are similar enough to get my attention, but different enough to peak my curiosity to find what bird it is. I enjoy the antics of the dozen or so Black-caps that live near our house.
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This is a nice introduction to these endearing birds, Brads. My attitude is: “Who can fail to be cheered by the chirping of chickadees?”
Like you, we get two species of chickadees in our yard, but no Carolina Chickadee has ever showed its pretty face here.
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Hi Tanja. It must be fun to hear two different songs at nearly the same time.
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They are cheerful little birds aren’t they? Our Mountain Chickadees have a harsher call than the Black-caps. Yes, they are hard to capture in pictures. You got some good shots, Brad.
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Thanks very much. They are one of my favorites at home. I like the varied calls and warnings. This time of year they seem to be singing more than I remember with snow on the ground. The chickadees are also doing their best to empty our feeders.
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