Voice of the Wild

Voice of the Wild Trailer Bonus Episode 37 Season 1

Episode 37: Black-Capped or Carolina? Chickadee ID – Voice of the Wild

Episode 37: Black-Capped or Carolina? Chickadee ID – Voice of the WildEpisode 37: Black-Capped or Carolina? Chickadee ID – Voice of the Wild

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The Black-capped and Carolina chickadee’s range only barely intersects, so identification is typically as easy as finding out which side of the line you are on. Unfortunately, for those within a few tens of miles of the line, a confident ID may not be possible. 

The following paper contains a map showing the location of the hybrid zone: 
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The following Cornell Lab | Macaulay Library recordings were used in this episode: 
  • Black-capped chickadee song by Matthew D. Medler (ML508153) 
  • Black-capped chickadee call by Geoffrey A. Keller (ML508154) 
  • Carolina chickadee song and call by Wil Hershberger (ML508127) 
 
Sources and more: 
  • https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Black-capped_Chickadee 
  • https://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/black-capped-chickadee 
  • https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Carolina_Chickadee 
  • https://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/carolina-chickadee 
  • Dobson C, Kassenbaum D, Oehmke D, et al. 2023. Field guide to hotspots and birds in Illinois. Champaign-Urbana: Scissortail LLC. 
  • Kroodsma DE, Albano DJ, Houlihan PW, et al. 1995. Song Development by Black-Capped Chickadees (Parus Atricapillus) and Carolina Chickadees (P. Carolinensis). The Auk. 112(1):29–43. https://doi.org/10.2307/4088764. 
  • National Audubon Society videoguide to the birds of North America. 2004. Fullscreen. Carrboro, NC: Godfrey-Stadin Productions. 
  • Peterson RT, Peterson VM. 1980. A field guide to the birds : a completely new guide to all the birds of eastern and central North America. Fourth edition, completely revised and enlarged. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company (The Peterson field guide series ; 1). 
  • Robbins MB, Braun MJ, Tobey EA. 1986. Morphological and Vocal Variation Across a Contact Zone between the Chickadees Parus Atricapillus and P. Carolinensis. The Auk. 103(4):655–666. https://doi.org/10.1093/auk/103.4.655. 
  • Sibley D. 2016. Sibley birds East : field guide to birds of eastern North America. Second edition. New York: Alfred A. Knopf (Field guide to birds of eastern North America). 

What is Voice of the Wild?

If you learn to listen for them, you will find wildlife everywhere. Voice of the Wild is a podcast about wildlife and the wild sounds they make. Tune in every Friday to learn a new bird song, frog call, or insect noise.

This is Illinois Extension’s Voice of the Wild. In today’s episode we’ll hear two voices: the black-capped chickadee and the carolina chickadee.

Here are their respective songs, first the black-capped; which typically sings in notes of two

And now the carolina, which typically sings with notes of four

Aside from sounding very similar, these two chickadees look and act much like one another: both have black caps, white cheeks, and gray backs; both are regular birdfeeder visitors; and both forage trees in mixed flocks with kinglets, titmice, and warblers. So how can we differentiate these two almost identical species?

Well, For most birders, its quite simple. imagine a line stretching from Philadelphia to the panhandle of Oklahoma. In Illinois this line runs from Champaign-Urbana to St. louis. Chickadees found to the north of that line are almost certainly black-capped chickadees. While birds to the south of the line are carolinas.

But what about a chickadee found right on the line, say by someone who lives in Champaign-urbana, like me. Well, I have bad news; while the birds have slightly different songs and the black-capped is on average a little larger and more brightly colored; the chickadees that live right on the line can hybridize with each other, rendering these identifying traits useless. Worse yet, they’ll sing other’s song. There is one bright side to birding in that narrow overlap, though you can’t be confident which species you might be hearing, you can at least hear those songs sung together.

Thank you to the Macaulay library at the Cornell lab for our bird sounds. And thank you for tuning in to learn a new wild voice with Illinois Extension.