Black-capped Chickadee
Poecile atricapillus
The black-capped chickadee has a black cap and "bib" with white cheeks. Its underparts are white with buff-coloured flanks. Its back is unstreaked and greenish grey, and the tail and wings are slate grey. It has a black beak and legs, and dark brown irises. Males and females are generally similar, although males have a larger bib. They can also be distinguished based on a combination of weight and tail length. Tarsus length does not significantly differentiate sexes. Males have a wing length of 63.5–67.5 mm (2.50–2.66 in), a tail length of 58–63 mm (2.3–2.5 in), a bill length of 8–9.5 mm (0. Voice: The vocalizations of the black-capped chickadee are highly complex, with 16 distinct types of vocalizations being used to convey an array of information. These vocalizations are likely an evolutionary adaptation to their habitat; they live and feed in dense vegetation, and even when the flock is close together, individual birds tend to be out of each other's visual range.
ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
Mountain Chickadee
Poecile gambeli
Adults of both sexes have a black cap joining a black postocular stripe behind distinctive white eyebrows. Their backs and flanks are gray and they have paler gray underparts; they have a short black bill, and a black bib. The typical adult wingspan is 7.5 in (19 cm), and the overall length is 5–6 in (13–15 cm). The Mountain Chickadee is one of 55 species of chickadees and tits. Voice: Their call is a throaty chick-adee-dee-dee, while their song is a 3- or 4-note descending whistle fee-bee-bay or fee-bee-fee-bee. Their song sounds like it is whistling the word "Cheeseburger". They travel in pairs or small groups, and may join multi-species feeding flocks after breeding season.
ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
Where you might meet both
Learn this pair in the BeakBrain App
Photo and call practice. Coming soon to iPhone and Android.
Play today's Daily BirdPhotos and recordings are credited to their authors under the licence shown. Full profiles: Black-capped Chickadee and Mountain Chickadee.