[birding] Chickadee sings

[bouchdon at peak.org]

Hello,

Lisa and I heard a Black-capped Chickadee singing in the frosty air this
morning as we left on our bike commute to work.

For people new to bird songs or new to the area, Willamette-Valley
Black-capped Chickadees have a unique song dialect. Most Web sites or bird
sound CDs use the more widespread chickadee song heard elsewhere. Our
chickadee's song has more notes.

Not to be confused with the common chickadee call ("chick-a-dee dee dee")
the SONG is a series of whistled notes descending in tone. Our chickadee's
call is the same as others elsewhere. To hear some of our Black-capped
Chickadee song, follow this link to our bird sound database:

http://www.neighborhood-naturalist.com/bird_sounds/pages/140_chickadees.htm

We also have Chestnut-backed Chickadees in our areas but they have no
whistled song. They are characterized by their blunt "chick-a-di-dew"
call. Mountain Chickadees are rare in the Coast Range and absent from the
valley.

Don Boucher