This very difficult for me to do because I am not one to even want to sound like I know it all, but I have a question about your chickadee. Please do not take my comments in any other way than I am curious and would like to share what I have learned.
I know we have the Carolina Chickadee here in NJ and they have the same markings as the Black capped chickadee except their flank is grey and they have a white bib. The Black Capped has a kind of red/melon/orange flanks and a white bib. The Black Capped is also about an inch bigger in length than the Carolina and there is also a Boreal and that one has a brown cap, black bib and limited white on the cheeks and is reddish brown on the flanks. They all have black caps too.
The picture LeeAnn showed is a definite Black-capped chickadee.
OK. I will confess, I did a Carolina Chickadee in Needlefelt and that is the only reason I know the difference. I remember looking in my Stokes Field Guide To Birds to be sure I had the correct colors. This is the Eastern Region book, and you all are not near me. I am a backyard bird lover and feeder and know nothing about anything except what I read in the bird books.
It shows the black capped not going as far south as TX, but the Carolina does go that far South. These ranges look like they do overlap. The book said Hybrids exist when ranges overlap. The book also says you can tell them apart by their voice. Yeah! Not this old girl.
Since I have only the Eastern Region edition, I can not tell for sure the boundaries. It is so interesting to study these little creatures. Enjoy your birds and your day. Thank you for letting me share this with you.
