Chickadees but not Chestnut-backed?
Wed, 29
Oct 2003 10:43:49 -0800
From: David Couch
A few times this October I have heard what I now realize sounds exactly like a Black-capped Chickadee, but I suppose is more likely to be a Mountain Chickadee. Is this possible here in the Berkeley-Oakland area??? Nobody's yard lists on EBB have any chickadees other than Chestnut-backed Chickadees. Sibley has a few green dots here for Mountain, but Black-capped is way north.
On October 11, I was at a party a half-mile west of Mills College and from high up in a backyard tree I heard the clear, slow two-note whistle whee-whoo that said "chickadee family" to my brain � I am from the east coast. Each note is almost a second long, and the first note note is a whole note higher than the second, or maybe a major third, I forget (that means two whole notes notes lower). Within the next ten days or so, I heard the song again on at least two mornings at my home in the northwest Berkeley flats.
Unfortunately(!) at neither location did I see the bird, and didn't bother to look it up. We often have chickadees and titmice. I said to my wife, "Oh, that's a chickadee or titmouse. I forget which." Only yesterday did I start researching and see that the Chestnut-backed Chickadee doesn't have this two-note whistle, and all the Oak Titmouse song is also completely different.
I listened online to song samples and carefully listened to my Peterson Western Song CD to all the flycatchers, tits and sparrows. I found only three songs that sounded like the Black-capped Chickadee:
A search through the EBB archives, yard lists and rare bird alerts showed no Mountain or Black-capped Chickadees ever seen around here. Are there aberrant Chestnut-backed Chickadees that make this song? I can't imagine a mockingbird doing this thin whistle, but maybe???
Any words of wisdom from you more experienced birders?
David Couch
7th Street near Cedar
Berkeley
Re: Chickadees but not Chestnut-backed?
Wed,
29 Oct 2003 11:38:35 -0700
From: John Shiurba
David Couch wrote:
A few times this October I have heard what I now realize sounds exactly like a Black-capped Chickadee, but I suppose is more likely to be a Mountain Chickadee. Is this possible here in the Berkeley-Oakland area???
They were probably Golden-crowned Sparrows, which are very commonly heard singing in backyards around here. The first two notes are usually a descending minor third and sound remarkably like the Black-capped Chickadee. Often the Golden-crowned Sparrow will give the 2 notes and then repeat them adding a third note another minor third below the second. The Chestnut-backed Chickadee on the other hand makes no analogous sound that I've ever heard.
Original Message Subject Index
Hayward Regional Shoreline
Wed, 29 Oct 2003
14:57:50 PST
From: Bob Richmond
Today at the shoreline:
W Winton Ave:
Hayward Landing:
Mt Trashmore:
Good Birding
Bob