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Black-capped chickadee (lemmy.world)
submitted 10 months ago by to c/birding@lemmy.world
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Midwest USA. December 2025.

Olympus E-M1+ Oly 75mm-300mm f/4.8-6.7 II @ 252, f/8, 1/80s, ISO-640.

Did I find an IRL shiny? Is this leucism? It's rare that I see a chickadee with white feathers in its cap.

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[–] 9 points 10 months ago

Hell yeah! What a frickin adorable little bird you've captured there on your camera

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    [–] 9 points 10 months ago (2 children)

    Amazing! I'm still waiting to capture a "perfect" chickadee pic be ause of how fast they move. This took patience, I can tell. Wtg friend!

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  • [–] [S] 9 points 10 months ago (1 child)

    Thank you. These chickadees are quite used to humans being present. These were taken near a public bird feeder. It's pretty cool, there are probably 20-30 around at most times and they'll buzz just a few inches from my head and you can feel their wing flaps. They'll get within a few inches of me and check me out. they're quite smart for a tiny bird.

    Here are some bonus shots I couldn't upload earlier.

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    • [–] 7 points 10 months ago (2 children)

    That’s a hybrid with a mountain chickadee I’m pretty sure!

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  • [–] [S] 5 points 10 months ago (1 child)

    Interesting. I didn't think we had mountain chickadees here I'm way over East vs their typical range.

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  • [–] 6 points 10 months ago

    You probably don’t but bird ranges are expanding rapidly. Also from what I’ve been told by some experts, mountain chickadees will sometimes join a BCC gang and hang out with it even without being near their range. So maybe you got a hybrid that just traveled very far east. In any case it looks just like a hybrid to me!

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    • [–] 6 points 10 months ago

    If I know anything about birds, something this small and cute is bound to be a vicious hunter and I'm all here for it.

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    [–] 2 points 10 months ago (1 child)

    Jealous! Here in central Ohio we supposedly should get a few but confirmed sightings are basically nonexistent. EBird mods won't trust Merlin audio because they say Carolinas can mimic black-caps, and when you get something that has black-cap-looking markings they've said it "looks like a Carolina with some black-cap genes". I'd just like to get a confirmed black cap around here, I know we must get some. Great pictures.

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  • [–] [S] 1 point 10 months ago

    Thanks. You must get some black caps. You're not too far south of me and I do believe they'll span most of OH. I love the birds, but black caps are by far the most common, and while I love shooting them they can get a bit samey. I just back from a birding walk and all I spotted were black caps and some crows.

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