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Black-capped Chickadee


Black-capped Chickadee
Photo Information
Copyright: Claude Ouellet (tiklod) Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 299 W: 77 N: 891] (3361)
Genre: Animals
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2007-10-20
Categories: Birds
Camera: Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ5
Exposure: f/5.0, 1/250 seconds
Photo Version: Original Version
Date Submitted: 2007-11-27 17:28
Viewed: 749
Points: 62
[Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note
BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEE

The Black-capped Chickadee, (Poecile atricapillus), is a small, common songbird, a passerine bird in the tit family Paridae. Often, it is still placed in the genus Parus with most other tits, but mtDNA cytochrome b sequence data and morphology suggest that separating Poecile more adequately expresses these birds' relationships (Gill et al., 2005). The American Ornithologists' Union has been treating Poecile as distinct genus for some time already.

Adults have a black cap and bib with white sides to the face. Their under parts are white with rusty brown on the flanks; their back is gray. They have a short dark bill, short wings and a long tail.

Their breeding habitat is mixed or deciduous woods in Canada, Alaska and the northern United States. They nest in a hole in a tree; the pair excavates the nest, using a natural cavity or sometimes an old woodpecker nest. They may interbreed with Carolina Chickadees or Mountain Chickadees where their ranges overlap. The Black-capped and Carolina chicadees are virtually impossible to tell apart visually, but they are readily distinguished by call. Their point of overlap is near New Brunswick, New Jersey.

They are permanent residents, but sometimes move south within their range in winter. On cold winter nights, these birds reduce their body temperature by up to 10-12 °C to conserve energy.

These birds hop along tree branches searching for food, sometimes hanging upside down or hovering; they may make short flights to catch insects in the air. Insects form a large part of their diet, especially in summer; seeds and berries become important in winter. They sometimes hammer seeds on a tree or shrub to open them; they also will store seeds for later use. Black-capped Chickadees are known to remember the position of hundreds or more of their food caches for up to a month.

During the fall migration and winter, chickadees often flock together. Many other species of birds, including titmice, nuthatches, and warblers can often be found foraging in these flocks. Mixed flocks stay together because the chickadees call out whenever they find a good source of food. This calling out forms cohesion for the group, allowing the other birds to find food more efficiently. When flocking, Black-capped Chickadees soon establish a rigid social hierarchy.

ISO 200
F5.0
1/250

Cheers :-)

Claude
jrobertop, mesquens, dejo, eqshannon, rousettus, earthtraveler, jhm, Argus, Debz, JoseMiguel, cataclysta, fartash, mvdisco, gracious, warnzy, Alex99, pierrefonds, CeltickRanger, marhowie, NinaM has marked this note useful
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Critiques [Translate]

Hello Claude
Very nice. good composition and sharpness. beautiful colors.
Angela

Hello Claude,
Wonderful picture of this exuberant bird!
Very well composed... super natural!
Excellent colors, sharpness and details.
Well done!
Best wishes,
José Roberto

Great pic, Claude,
Nice, sharp and very well composed.
TFS
Raimundo

  • Great 
  • dejo Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 354 W: 51 N: 475] (2048)
  • [2007-11-27 17:59]

Hello Claude,
Beautiful bird and beautiful capture!
very nice composition and sharpness, lovely colors
Regards, Dejan

Hi Claude,
Tits are one group of my favourite birds. We have some species. But they dont like give pose to me. You are lucky and you took such a nice photo with nice sharpness and details. Eye contact, POV, composition, colors very nice. good notes.
TFS, well done
Ahmet

Hello Claude,

Très jolis la finesse des détails de l'oiseau et de son perchoir !

Bonne journée

Liliane

  • Great 
  • jhm Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 659 W: 0 N: 177] (622)
  • [2007-11-27 23:21]

Hello Claude,

Beautiful bird and beautiful capture, very nice composition and lovely colours
My compliments for the quality of the the Black-capped Chickadee.

Best regards,
John

  • Great 
  • Argus Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2500 W: 132 N: 7109] (22209)
  • [2007-11-28 0:34]

Hello Claude,
Superb capture of a Black-capped Chickadee taken from a fine POV and at a good moment. Excellent composition on the feeding log perch against a fine contrasting natural blurred BG.
Well done and TFS!
Ivan

Claude,

Boy you nailed this one,
Exposure, detail, everything about it is great,
How did you ever keep him still long enough, :-)
TFS

fototab

  • Great 
  • Debz Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 582 W: 0 N: 866] (3283)
  • [2007-11-28 4:12]

Hello Claude, this is a fine portrait of this lovely little bird. Nice profile and pov. The Chickadee is clear and sharp in every detail, great colours on the plumage and nice catchlight on the eye. Very well composd.
tfs
debz

You have brought a gift for my eyes...I know when I see this I see the eyes of both of my fathers..My earthly father now passed on to the home of his Father.....thank you so much for sharing your wonderful images as this. It goes to show that you too are of great part of this world we call natural...
.
Bob

Hi Claude,
Splendid capture of this tiny bird!
I like so much the close approach and beautiful details you were able to got here.
It's very good the composition made with the trunk and the nicely blurred background.
Congratulations and thanks for ahare it.
My best regards,
JM

another wonderfull bird in a peace and quiet situation,i like your background's choice,very good work,best regards,Luciano

Hi Claude
Almos perfectly sharp image, perfect compositio and great effect with vivid green OOF background. Also nice background texture
I like it very much
Krzysztof

Hi Claude,
very nice Chickadee image.
Very good detail as well as POV. The addition of the pine Bg makes this a very pleasing scene.
TFS
Richard... see you later

hello claude,
lovely shot of the Black-capped Chickadee, well composed shot, nice pov, well exposed shot, the oof green bg offers good contrast to the bird, sharp image with good details of the plumage,
well done,
tfs & regards
pankaj

Hello Claude
Very nice shot of this Black-capped Chickadee,
Perfect focusing,lighting and BG.Superb shot

Good Luck
Fartash

  • Great 
  • PeterZ Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1116 W: 59 N: 2259] (7487)
  • [2007-11-28 11:27]

Hello Claude,
Excellent photo with a great composition. The natural environment is exciting. Perfect DOF.
Very good natural colours, POV and sharpness.
Regards,
Peter

  • Great 
  • nglen Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 1904 W: 4 N: 5177] (19726)
  • [2007-11-28 11:42]

Hi Claude. You have captured a fine close up of the cute little bird. You have fine detail and sharp focusing. good natural colours. with a nice POV. well done TFS. good notes to.
Nick..

Bonjour Claude,
Belle prise de vue de cette petite mésange, jolies couleurs et bien présentée, Belle nettetée et détails, Excellent cliché.
Mes salutations
Michel

Bonjour claude,
Excellent shot with good pose!
total sharpness, vivid colour and details
great job!
merci
Tony

Hi Claude,

Lovely shot of this chickadee, with great detail and the softness of the feathers really eemphasised. I also love the natural colours and light and the composition is spot on as usual.

Kind regards,

Mike

  • Great 
  • RP1 Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 159 W: 1 N: 124] (1902)
  • [2007-11-29 14:47]

Salut Claude,
Un autre de tes belles réussite. Les couleurs et l'exposition de l'oiseau sont parfaite. La souche avec ses couleurs donne de la valeur à ta photo.
Merci
Roger

  • Great 
  • EOSF1 Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1298 W: 104 N: 4606] (20485)
  • [2007-11-30 5:13]

Bonjour Claude, la pose de l'oiseau est vraiment bien, la netteté est superbe bref, une excellente photo ! Merci !

Mario

  • Great 
  • Maite Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 978 W: 64 N: 1189] (4886)
  • [2007-11-30 6:39]

Just precious!! What a fantastic shot and marvellous capture! I love this little bird and the picture is a real humdinger.
How great!
Thank you very much again.
Greetings
Maite

  • Great 
  • Alex99 Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2991 W: 148 N: 4435] (14369)
  • [2007-12-01 1:08]

Hi Claude.
I am impressed with the beautifulness of the scene and picture. It is simply amazing. I love wonderful and rich colour palette, amazing pictorial BG, perfect DOF and excellently details main subject – cute bird and so attractive stump. Only white spot on the bird head is OE quite a little bit.

My first experience of shooting of swans and seagulls was awful. After that I always use negative exposure compensation when I shoot contrast object with white colours and correct exposure level during post processing.

It does not concern to your wonderful shot.
My compliments.
Alexei.

Bonjour Claude,

Une belle image de ce mésange à tête noire, la photo a une bonne composition, netteté et de jolies couleurs. Bonne journée.

Pierre

salut Claude

les dernières semaines j'étais absent du forum et je vois
que j'ai manqué plusieurs de tes belles photos,
j'ai voulu en choisir qu'une seule pour aujourd'hui
pour donner ma critique, j'hésité entre celle-ci
et celle de geai bleu mais j'ai obté pour celle-ci
car dans cette photo j'aime l'arrière-plan où l'on voit bien
la nature (le vert de la nature),

la netteté et les détails sont excellent, j'aime le pov et le cadrage

TFS

Asbed

Hi Claude,
I like the great OOF BG of evergreen, nice.
Very good detail, color, exposure, POV, and composition here :)
Well done!
Howard

  • Great 
  • NinaM Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 545 W: 0 N: 1338] (4443)
  • [2007-12-03 14:40]

Rebonsoir Claude, j'ai manqué aussi cette jolie mésange, toujours aussi nette et avec de belles couleurs vives. J'ignore si c'est toujours la même buche où les oiseaux que tu photographies vont mais quelle buche attirante! Très belle photo, félicitation,

Francine

  • Great 
  • lizzie Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 214 W: 0 N: 635] (2843)
  • [2007-12-05 18:18]

Bonjour Claude,

Belle composition de la mésange sur son perchoir. Les couleurs sont belles et naturelles, une belle netteté dans la plumage également. Bravo!

Lise

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