Chickadees are American tits, like the stuff I got in my shirt, hey-O! heyoheyoheyoHey-O! Haha. Got ’em.
But seriously, they’re iconic birds of North America, hugely successful and widespread, to the point I have to wonder, like I do with dark-eyed juncos, if they are out of balance with their natural condition, as a result of human restructuring of the world.
That’s mostly black-capped chickadees, but of course, there are other close relatives of those birds. Of them, the only one I’m ever likely to see is the chestnut-backed chickadee, because they are found in similar environments to the black-capped – namely, in trees and bushes around humans.
They have to be niche partitioning somehow, to have such a close relative in the same range. What are CBCs doing differently? Well, for one thing, they are not completing their sentences. They are mumblecore chickadees with vocal fry, or whatever you call it. BCCs are well known for their chickadee call, which in practice is more like “Tsickida-BEE BEE BEE.” I could be wrong about this because it’s hard to get a clear enough view of the bird making the call, but it seems to me CBCs say Tsickida but never BEE. Kinda like, halfway between the indistinct squeaking of bushtits and the bolder chickadee style.
Also, they are less bold in color. I didn’t know there were multiple types of chickadees when I first saw them, and the chestnut back stood out less to me than the charcoal color of the dark areas on their head. It’s like somebody took a black-capped and turned down the contrast, then painted a cedar red strip on their back. I initially assumed I was seeing a mutant black-capped, with low-key leucism.
Anyway, I think they look cuter than black-capped chickadees, but cuteness is not the main thing I like about chickadees. It’s the sassy noises, and for that, black-capped chickadees win – enough to get a post of their own someday.
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I like these birder posts.
This one’s title I read as “Chestnut-Baked Chickadee” and was somewhat taken aback.
—dammit—-
I should have said “taken abake” !!!1!!!
thanks bud. u can take a bake. 420oooooo
i kid, i kid. say no to hempfy doobies.