Category: Chickadee

Downy Woodpecker and Hierarchy

Like High Noon at the OK Corral. A Downy Woodpecker (Picoides pubescens) sizes up its competition, a Chickadee (Paridae) and a Carolina Wren (Thryothorus ludovicianus). Two pipsqueaks.

As intimidation begins, Chickadee excuses itself. Leaving Downy Woodpecker and Carolina Wren to a showdown.

Downy Woodpecker poofs its wing feathers. While Carolina Wren proceeds to enjoy the suet.

Downy Woodpecker draws upon its dramatic training and sweeps its wings open. While Carolina Wren ignores the theatrics.

And the winner is declared. The smaller and obstinate Carolina Wren tells the Downy Woodpecker to get in line and wait its turn.

Which Chickadee?

In North America there are seven native species of chickadee. Two of those species are the Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus) which are found from New England to the West Coast along the northern tier of the United States and southern Canada, and the Carolina Chickadee (Poecile carolinensis) which resides in southeastern U.S.

The two species look extremely similar but under normal circumstances a birder can just look at the range map and go by that. If it is in the Black-capped range then it is that species and the same for the Carolina. But for a very thin strip across the U.S. there is a problem.

The native range of these two species overlap in a very narrow zone going from New Jersey to Kansas, and that zone takes a dip south along the Appalachian Mountains. In that narrow zone where the two species meet it becomes nearly impossible to tell one species from another since they can hybridize. And to add to the identity challenge in the overlap zone, each species can learn the song and call of the opposite species.

So here at my feeders, they are not Black-capped Chickadees or Carolina Chickadees, but just Chickadees. That keeps it simple.