Carolina Chickadee
Poecile carolinensis
This tiny, plump-bodied, big-headed bird is a familiar woodland resident and backyard visitor in the southeastern U.S. The only chickadee in almost all of its range. Gray overall with contrasting head pattern: black cap, white cheek, and black throat. Short, stubby bill is used for hammering open seeds. Often the core of mixed flocks of songbirds. Visits feeders. Nearly identical to Black-capped Chickadee, but range barely overlaps. Especially note voice, duller gray wings, and less buffy coloration on flanks of Carolina. Beware that hybrids occur frequently in the overlap zone and some are best left unidentified.
Identification
Adults are 11.5–13 cm (4.5–5.1 in) long with a weight of 9–12 g (0.32–0.42 oz), and have a black cap and bib with white sides to the face. Their underparts are white with rusty brown on the flanks; their back is grey. They have a short dark bill, short wings and a moderately long tail. Very similar to the black-capped chickadee, the Carolina chickadee is distinguished by the slightly browner wing with the greater coverts brown (not whitish fringed) and the white fringing on the secondary feathers slightly less conspicuous; the tail is also slightly shorter and more square-ended. Without calls, visual distinction between the two species is very difficult even with an excellent view.<p>Eggs are about 1.5 cm (0.6 in) long and 1.1 cm (0.4 in) wide. Eggs are white with areas of reddish-brown ranging from dots to small blotches.
Taxonomy
The Carolina chickadee was often placed in the genus Parus with most other tits, but mtDNA cytochrome b sequence data and morphology suggest that separating Poecile more adequately expresses these birds' relationships. The American Ornithologists' Union has been treating Poecile as distinct genus since 1998. Although it and the black-capped chickadee most likely diverged about 2.5 million years ago, the birds still hybridize in the areas where their ranges overlap. The offspring of mated pairs of hybrid chickadees suffer from lower hatching success, and a male bias sex ratio, consistent with Haldane's rule.
- Scientific name
- Poecile carolinensis
- Authority
- (Audubon, 1834)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Paridae
- Genus
- Poecile
Range and habitat
Their breeding habitat is mixed or deciduous forests in the United States from New Jersey and Pennsylvania west to southern Kansas and south to Florida and Texas; there is a gap in the range at high altitudes in the Appalachian Mountains where they are replaced by their otherwise more northern relative, the black-capped chickadee.<p>They are permanent residents, not usually moving south even in severe winter weather.
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
During the fall migration and winter, chickadees often flock together in flocks of 8–10 birds. Each of the birds in a flock has a rank; while highly ranked birds will remain on the flock's territory for breeding, lower-ranked birds must find new breeding territory. Many other species of birds, including titmice, nuthatches, and warblers can often be found foraging in these flocks. Mixed flocks occur about 50% of the time. Mixed flocks stay together because the chickadees call out whenever they find a good source of food. This calling out forms cohesion for the group, allowing the other birds to find food more efficiently.<p>Carolina chickadees actively defend individual spaces of 2–5 ft (0.6–1.5 m) apart; if another bird encroaches on these spaces, the dominant bird may make gargle calls. At feeders, these birds will usually take a seed and fly to a branch isolated from other birds to eat it.<p>These birds usually sleep in cavities, though they may sleep in branches. Different members of a flock will sleep in the same cavity from night to night. While females usually sleep in the nest cavity, males will normally sleep on a nearby branch.
Conservation
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
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Pampusana beccarii
A rotund, short-legged ground-dwelling dove that usually runs rather than flies when startled. Both sexes have a brown body with bluish-gray chest and head. Males have an iridescent pink shoulder patch. Most obvious identification feature in the field is the glowing white eye-ring of the male, especially in more eastern populations such as those in the Solomon Islands. On mainland New Guinea, the species is a resident of upper-elevation montane forest. No other similar species occur in its altitudinal range. Gives a typical dove-like “woo-oop” call which is quiet and easily missed.
Mountain Chat
Myrmecocichla monticola
A medium-sized wheatear that is variable in plumage, but always has a diagnostic white rump and outer tail feathers in both sexes. The male has both gray and black morphs with white shoulder patches and black wings; gray morphs often have a gray crown. The female is sooty brown. Pairs and small groups perch on promontories in open shrubby hilly areas, stony patches on level ground, and around stone buildings, dropping onto the ground to forage. The similar White-headed Black-Chat resembles male dark-morph Mountain Wheatear, but has a black tail and rump and occupies broadleaf woodland.
Southern Brown-throated Weaver
Ploceus xanthopterus
Fairly small and slim weaver with a slender bill. Breeding male is distinctive: bright yellow overall with a chestnut bib. Females, non-breeding males, and juveniles are much duller but show streaking on the back and (usually) a pale base to the dark bill. Found mainly in wetlands, though they will range into drier surrounding country. Almost always in flocks. Vocalizations are typical of weavers: “chek” notes and a sizzling, “radio static” song. Plumages other than breeding male can be hard to separate from other weavers, but they can be cautiously identified by the pale base of the bill, wetland habitat, and overall size and shape.
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