Morning Bird Pic

[sleigh]

This is another 'new' member of the feeder family: the Carolina Chickadee, but again, a tough one to catch as unlike the House Sparrows and House Finches, they're camera shy -- they don't linger on the feeder, but grab something and take off. The chickadee is easy to mistake for the male house sparrow (in fact, I've done that before, readers might remember) as they have very similar black-and-white heads. However, the house sparrows have brown backs and wings with distinctive stripes, as well as a gray cap. Chickadees are gray-backed, the wings don't have the bold stripes, no gray cap, and are generally smaller.

Cute birds, though!

Comments

[maiac.livejournal.com]

I have a great fondness for chickadees, because they're the favorite bird of my favorite ornithologist (and good friend) Laura Erickson (http://lauraerickson.com/).

They're occasional visitors to my bird feeder, and I hear their distinctive call more often than I actually see them.