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TRANSCRIPT:
Of all the birds that turn up at birdfeeders, chickadees鈥攅ver perky, smartly dressed in black and white鈥攁re favorites. And they鈥檙e instantly recognizable as chickadees.
Yet sometimes we have to ask ourselves: 鈥淲hich chickadee is it?鈥 In the Eastern and Central states, for example, there are two species. Mostly, they seem to divide up by latitude: Black-capped Chickadees pervade the northern half of the region, and Carolina Chickadees, the southern half.
But in some places they overlap. And while the two look nearly identical, their voices give them away. Black-capped Chickadees sing a sweet, whistled two to three notes, the first a bit higher. In contrast, Carolina Chickadees usually sing more notes and all at different or alternating pitches. Here they are again.
With a little listening practice, you鈥檒l find that the birds鈥 contact calls sound different, too. Black-capped Chickadees actually seem to say 鈥渃hickadee", while Carolinas blurt their name much faster and at higher pitch.
So while you watch those feeders, keep your ears tuned!
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CREDITS:
Bird sounds provided by at the, Ithaca, New York. Song of Black-capped Chickadee [163374] recorded by M. Medler; song of Carolina Chickadee [84822] by W.L. Hershberger; call of Black-capped Chickadee [106942] by R.S. Little; call of Carolina Chickadee [73963] by G.A. Keller.
BirdNote鈥檚 theme music was composed and played by Nancy Rumbel and John Kessler.
Producer: John Kessler
Executive Producer: Chris Peterson
Written by Bob Sundstrom
漏 2014 Tune In to Nature.org April 2014 Narrator: Mary McCann