![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/mountain-chickadee-7066-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"mountain-chickadee-7066-ron-dudley\\"")
<\/p>\nIncluding the primary difference between Mountain Chickadees and Black-capped Chickadees.<\/p>\n
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1\/6400, f\/6.3, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF500mm f\/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n I found this Mountain Chickadee in mid-November four years ago in the mountains of the west desert. ‘He’ was hanging upside down on a juniper and appeared to be feeding on some of its scale leaves, which surprised me. I thought they fed on invertebrates and conifer seeds exclusively.<\/p>\n I was pleased to catch him in a broadside pose with a clean background.<\/p>\n When I’ve posted photos of Mountain Chickadees in the past, some of my viewers have been confused. Mountain Chickadees are exclusively a western bird so some folks assumed they were photos of the far more widespread Black-capped Chickadee that I had just called Mountain Chickadees because I photographed them in the mountains.<\/p>\n They’re closely related but Mountain Chickadees and Black-capped Chickadees are two distinct species.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n This is a Black-capped Chickadee. Notice that in this species the black cap extends down uninterrupted to below the eye. But the Mountain Chickadee has a white “eyebrow” (supercilium) that interrupts the black cap between the eye and the top of the head. There are a few other more minor differences too.<\/p>\n “Where the ranges of the 2 species overlap in the Rocky Mountains, they tend to segregate by habitat, but where both are sparse, most notably in the Rio Grande valley of New Mexico, they may hybridize extensively.”<\/em><\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n <\/p>\n PS – Fall has hit northern Utah with a vengeance. Right now (just after 6 AM) it’s in the high 40’s with a cold rain. It won’t be long before BLTs with garden tomatoes will be a thing of the past.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Including the primary difference between Mountain Chickadees and Black-capped Chickadees. (2 photos)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/black-capped-chickadee-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"black-capped-chickadee-ron-dudley\\"")
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