CLOSED: A New Bird!

At the suggestion of a salesperson at Wild Birds Unlimited, we've let our feeders run dry temporarily. We had hung a suet feeder in hopes of attracting some of the Flickers, Bluejays, etc that live in our neighborhood, and now that the seed feeders are dry, this fellow came to the suet feeder. I see NO black and gray birds in my Colorado bird guide that look anything like this guy, but am thinking he/she could be a juvie or molting or something to prevent an easy ID. Please, please, please help?

Wait for an expert, but my guess is Black-capped Chickadee. It looks a lot like the Carolina Chickadee I see in my yard.

Patti

Hmm - I'd pegged him as an Eastern Kingbird because of his the way his wings meet on his back, but the size difference should have been blindingly obvious. Now I see that the patch on his throat marks him as a chickadee in every way, so I'd be inclined to agree. This was the first time I'd seen him, and it was at the suet feeder which chickadees are known to visit. He darted off into the thickest part of our lilac which has been growing for decades around the corner of our house. Plenty of cavities in there I'm sure. But surely chickadees would be attracted to a nest box - right there close to where the suet feeder is now. Thank you so much for this info. I've been waiting a while to see a new birdie creature in our courtyard.

I think you need a new guide. :) The state guides are usually limited, not having every species seen in that state. We used a state guide early on, but it ended up becoming frustrating when we could not find many of the birds we actually saw.

P_Edens is correct with the Black-capped Chickadee. The Carolina is out of range. The Carolina's range is expanding, so just look at the wings, a Black-capped will have more extensive white on the edges.

http://www.sibleyguides.com/bird-info/black-capped-chickadee/black-capped-carolina-chickadee/

Edited to say I took so long on my reply that I did not see yours, wingwoman. :)

This message was edited Jul 23, 2014 5:54 PM

Thank you for taking the time to tell me about the Sibley Guide. I've put a link to it in my birding folder. The guide I've been using is published by Wild Birds Unlimited, which sells wild bird food, feeders, etc. in retail stores nationwide. They also sponsor "The Bird Show", a popular radio program that broadcasts on stations in all the cities where their stores are located. I've been using the Cornell site as well, and am glad to hear about this additional source. In short - Yippee! We have Chickadees!