White-capped Chickadee
Greetings,
Every so often somebody approaches me about an albino bird that they spotted in their yard. As expected, many of those that do approach me have little or no birding experience, making the dialog difficult between us as far as what species they were actually seeing, and whether or not the bird was truly an albino. In fact, more often than not, most of the birds that are declared albino by observers are actually leucistic (click here for more on leucism).
This was the case a few months ago when my girlfriend asked me about a bird that looked like a Black-capped Chickadee in her yard, but had a white head. After talking about it, she told me that her mother had taken a photo of the bird and that she would bring it in for me to see, which she did. Upon looking at that photo which was 3 years old at the time, the bird was clearly a Black-capped Chickadee…except that it had no black cap. Well, I had mostly forgotten about the existence of this individual chickadee until a few weeks ago when I was looking out at my girlfriend’s bird feeders where among the normal looking chickadees, one with a starch white head dropped in for some seed. A huge smile came across my face to realize that this bird was still out and about on my girlfriend’s property. I then tried to take the bird’s photo, but I unfortunately lost it…until yesterday, when I had the fortune of snapping off a few digital shots taken through my binoculars. They are hardly Audubon Magazine cover material, but they certainly do document this unique little bird. I really hope you enjoy it. By the way, feel free to share with any stories or links to photos of any leucistic or albino birds you have come across in the past.
All the best,
~Chad
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April 3rd, 2007 @ 10:06 pm
Whitey’s famous!
P&L
betsi
April 10th, 2007 @ 11:22 am
Very funny looking chickadee! Saw one with some white on its head before but nothing like this! Very cool !
April 13th, 2007 @ 8:17 pm
I also have a bird that has been coming to my feeders that I cannot identify. I have not been able to get a photo. The bird is actually white with black coloring throughout the body. It is a small bird. Very pretty. I cannot find it in my bird book or on the computer. Any ideas?
April 17th, 2007 @ 9:35 pm
Linda, unfortunately your description of the black and white bird is not enough for me to positively identify it for you. I would suggest going through the book again. Sometimes when birding it is easy to get hung up on colors alone, but as in the case with the chickadee above, that can be misleading. For your bird, try and use other clues to get you in the right direction such as profile, body shape, bill shape, and foraging behavior. With clues like those narrowed down it could at least point you in the right direction as what genera the bird is (tit, sparrow, finch, etc). Once you have an idea on that, it will make it a little easier to focus on what species it is.
If you happen to get any photos, I would love to see them someday. Best of luck.
Chad
May 10th, 2007 @ 7:51 am
I have a white capped finch? at my bird feeder. It has the little stripped breast and coloring of the finch without the red breast..this is in west Omaha Nebraska.
October 8th, 2007 @ 2:55 pm
I was hunting in northern Wisconsin, and had one of these come in and visit me while I sat in the deer stand. While deer hunting I have always enjoyed the world around me as I sit for hours in the forest. This white headed chick-a-dee was very different for me. Robin, a friend of mine, seached the internet and found this chat, and thanks to her….I know have added yet another bird to my list.
December 15th, 2007 @ 1:08 pm
Last winter I also saw an albino chickadee. It had a smudge of black onits head but otherwise white. It came to my sunflower feeders for the better part of the winter and was a treat to observe. Easy enough to identify as it had all the characteristics of a chickadee. i had forgotten about my little friend when who show show up this witer but the same bird. This lead me to check average life expectancies of chickadees, which i believe are no more than a year or two. so this gut’s not only unique but also smart enough to hang in there!!! This year he even snag for me, chickadee-dee-deeeeee cofirmig for sure his species.
any more inofr on their life spans/ Hoping I might see this little guy again next year.
December 15th, 2007 @ 10:14 pm
Regarding the life span of a Black-capped Chickadee, most of the literature that I could come across states 2-3 years. But that of course is an average. Longevity records for this species probably fall in the 11-12 year span.
So the question then falls: Does a leucistic bird face any extra challenges that would shorten its lifespan? Certainly if the bird was a pure albino it would face the fact that it is probably more likely to be picked off by a predator. This simply comes from the fact that how often do you spot something white that occurs naturally in the wild (aside from winter-plumaged species such as ptarmigan). However, if the bird is simply just spotted with bits of white here and there, it stands a much better chance.
I would gather that if it has been coming around for 1 year that you should see it for at least another year. Here is to hoping.
January 24th, 2008 @ 5:35 pm
We have had an “albino” chickadee at our feeder outside Thunder Bay, Ontario, all winter. I had decided that he must be a Snow Bunting, but today he sang me a song - “chikka-dee-duh” (that’s how they sound up here). He’s a chickadee all right.
Happy birdwatching.
May 7th, 2008 @ 2:46 pm
I spotted one of these leucistic black-caps today in Concord, NH. No song, but it was feeding with characteristic chickadee zeal and even shared a tidbit with another non-leucistic friend (possibly mates).
cheers and good birding,
-Patrick