northeast-flora-and-fauna

Bird feeders can be busy places, especially in winter when food (especially insects) isn't readily available. This picture shows, left to right, a "confusing" chickadee  [1], a Tufted Titmouse , and a White-breasted Nuthatch . Although I'm sure these birds meet in wild settings to forage for food, bird feeders are 1 of the few places there's sufficient food to bring numerous foraging birds into close proximity to each other. I haven't witnessed an actual fight at a bird feeder; they usually establish a pecking order that won't leave everyone happy but generally avoids physical altercations. All 3 of these birds not only eats from the feeders, but they're also hoarders, taking food from the feeder and hiding it for later [2]. Chickadees, titmice, nuthatches, and woodpeckers are often found foraging in the same area, probably for a couple of reasons: They're looking for similar food. Having more eyes on the alert for danger means it's less likel...

Here's a Black-capped Chickadee . Or is it a Carolina Chickadee ? It's awfully hard to say. In most of the country the issue is decided quickly by knowing where you are. The further south you go, the more likely it is that a bird looking like this is a Carolina Chickadee, and the further north you go, they more likely you are to encounter a Black-capped Chickadee. This article describing the differences shows that I live awfully close to the "hybrid zone", the area in the middle where the chickadees could be Black-cappeds, Carolinas, or hybrids. Skilled birders can recognize the song and call differences between the 2 species ... but near the hybrid zone this is of limited usefulness since each species can learn to make the other's sounds. A Black-capped Chickadee that grows up around Carolina Chickadees might well speak Carolina Chickadee-ese, and vice versa. Or it might be "bilingual". Of course, the hybrid zone isn't fixed in stone. An especially...