Odd Looking Black-capped Chickadee

[kdoty]

We have noticed a Black-capped chickadee in our yard but instead of the normal black cap, he has a brown cap. 

We found an article that talks about a variation in Black-capped chickadees but we would love to get your opinions.

https://www.birds.cornell.edu/crows/brown-headed chickadee.htm

We live in Council Bluffs, IA. We first noticed him in June. He visits our feeders multiple times daily. He acts and sounds like the other black-capped chickadees.

[AlexHenry]

Looks like a Black-capped Chickadee

[Seanbirds]

9 hours ago, AlexHenry said:

Looks like a Black-capped Chickadee

Agreed, but what’s with the brown cap, I wonder?

[Quiscalus quiscula]

1 hour ago, Seanbirds said:

Agreed, but what’s with the brown cap, I wonder?

Seems to be a rare color variation. The brown cap recalls boreal chickadee, but obviously it isn't because boreal wouldn't have white edges, would have brown flanks and a great number of other distinguishing characteristics. Indeed an odd chickadee.

[Charlie Spencer]

I hate to be 'That Guy', but Boreal x Black-capped?  Their ranges do overlap farther north.

[Quiscalus quiscula]

Just now, Charlie Spencer said:

I hate to be 'That Guy', but Boreal x Black-capped?  Their ranges do overlap farther north.

I would consider that, but there are zero records of boreal in iowa.

[Charlie Spencer]

Just now, Quiscalus quiscula said:

I would consider that, but there are zero records of boreal in iowa.

Agreed, and I doubt one hatched more to the north would wander down that far.  I'm mostly playing Devil's Advocate.

[Quiscalus quiscula]

1 minute ago, Quiscalus quiscula said:

I would consider that, but there are zero records of boreal in iowa.

Whoops, mistake. There are two records in iowa on ebird.

[Quiscalus quiscula]

Just now, Charlie Spencer said:

Agreed, and I doubt one hatched more to the north would wander down that far.  I'm mostly playing Devil's Advocate.

Boreal never visits feeders either. Of course, there is always a miniscule chance of a hybrid.

[Seanbirds]

4 minutes ago, Quiscalus quiscula said:

Boreal never visits feeders either.

You sure about that? I thought they did.

[Quiscalus quiscula]

Just now, Seanbirds said:

You sure about that? I thought they did.

I think Chestnut-backed does on a regular basis. Boreal only visits rarely, so I guess never say never.

[Seanbirds]

2 minutes ago, Quiscalus quiscula said:

I think Chestnut-backed does on a regular basis. Boreal only visits rarely, so I guess never say never.

https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/325221911?_gl=1*19lj3ch*_ga*MTYzMzg1Mzc1OS4xNjI3NDk2Nzcz*_ga_QR4NVXZ8BM*MTYyNzQ5Njc5NS4xLjAuMTYyNzQ5NjgwMS41NA..#_ga=2.244151109.1338964438.1627496773-1633853759.1627496773

[Connor Cochrane]

2 hours ago, Quiscalus quiscula said:

I think Chestnut-backed does on a regular basis. Boreal only visits rarely, so I guess never say never.

Chestnut-backed are the most common birds on my feeder. 

[Quiscalus quiscula]

 

4 hours ago, Seanbirds said:

https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/325221911?_gl=1*19lj3ch*_ga*MTYzMzg1Mzc1OS4xNjI3NDk2Nzcz*_ga_QR4NVXZ8BM*MTYyNzQ5Njc5NS4xLjAuMTYyNzQ5NjgwMS41NA..#_ga=2.244151109.1338964438.1627496773-1633853759.1627496773

This is probably a rare thing. Sibley Birds East 2016 says that they rarely visit bird feeders and are more antisocial than other chickadees.

[Seanbirds]

7 minutes ago, Quiscalus quiscula said:

 

This is probably a rare thing. Sibley Birds East 2016 says that they rarely visit bird feeders and are more antisocial than other chickadees.

https://ebird.org/media/catalog?beh=e&taxonCode=borchi2&mediaType=p&sort=rating_rank_desc&q=Boreal Chickadee

[Quiscalus quiscula]

1 minute ago, Seanbirds said:

https://ebird.org/media/catalog?beh=e&taxonCode=borchi2&mediaType=p&sort=rating_rank_desc&q=Boreal Chickadee

Okay, okay. Just quoting Sibley.

[kdoty]

Thank you everyone for the conversation about our odd looking chickadee. 
 

Sorry if this is a dumb question, but my husband and I only began birding about a year ago. If indeed this is rare variation in a black-capped chickadee, is there somewhere that we should report it? Orchard 

 

[Seanbirds]

21 hours ago, kdoty said:

Sorry if this is a dumb question, but my husband and I only began birding about a year ago. If indeed this is rare variation in a black-capped chickadee, is there somewhere that we should report it?

ebird is a great place where you can submit your bird sightings. I’m afraid though, that rare color variations are often ignored because eBird doesn’t have any way to highlight them and get them noticed yet. If it indeed turned out to be a Black-capped Chickadee  x Boreal Chickadee hybrid, that would definitely be something out of the ordinary, and a lot more people would see it reported.

[AlexHenry]

Please let’s stop suggesting hybrid chickadees. This is almost certainly a unusual Black-capped. There’s no reason to jump to such an extreme conclusion when there is no evidence to support that conclusion. It is not very unusual for some individuals of a species to be aberrant in one regard or another, just because they aren’t a perfect carbon copy of other individuals of the species does not mean they are a different species or a hybrid

[Seanbirds]

8 minutes ago, AlexHenry said:

Please let’s stop suggesting hybrid chickadees. This is almost certainly a unusual Black-capped. There’s no reason to jump to such an extreme conclusion when there is no evidence to support that conclusion. It is not very unusual for some individuals of a species to be aberrant in one regard or another, just because they aren’t a perfect carbon copy of other individuals of the species does not mean they are a different species or a hybrid

Alright. Thanks for clearing this up.

[AlexHenry]

[Quiscalus quiscula]

19 minutes ago, AlexHenry said:

Since Black-capped x Boreal is not a regularly recorded hybrid, not as regular as some other birds, eBird does not have a special page for it. There are hybrids that do not have an eBird page but have been recorded before, such as WEKI x EAKI

[SteveEarsom]

I read a tutorial article about attracting chickadees to the yard. I hope this guide is useful to be able to attract the Black-Capped Chickadee. The first is to order the nuts that the chickadees love, like shelled peanuts, shelled sunflower seeds, and peanut butter. Or maybe you should grow some apricots and sunflowers because they are quite insect-loving. Followed by a clean water supply, chickadees love to visit birdbaths where they can drink and bathe. Make sure you have birdbaths in your yard.

[SteveEarsom]

On 1/10/2022 at 11:33 PM, SteveEarsom said:

I read a tutorial article about attracting chickadees to the yard. I hope this guide is useful to be able to attract the Black-Capped Chickadee. The first is to order the nuts that the chickadees love, like shelled peanuts, shelled sunflower seeds, and peanut butter. Or maybe you should grow some apricots and sunflowers because they are quite insect-loving. Followed by a clean water supply, chickadees love to visit birdbaths where they can drink and bathe. Make sure you have birdbaths in your yard.

These birds like to stay and live in bushy evergreen shrubs that can protect them, and they can camouflage too. You may also plant or buy a pre-grown conifer tree, which they like to be their home. Then, provide roosting boxes in the conifer tree. It will protect them during colder months and will make them warm. Also, they are attracted to dense areas of shrubs.