Poecile carolinensis
Status: No accepted records.
Taxonomy: The genus Poecile, previously a sub-genus within Parus, was raised to generic status by Banks et al (1997) based on genetic studies by Gill et al (2005) and Slikas et al (1996).
There are four subspecies recognized, nearest to Nebraska atricapilloides of southern Kansas to central Texas (Gill et al 2022).
Comments: There are three reports, none convincingly documented. A recording which cannot now be located was made of a call in Fontenelle Forest, Sarpy Co 5 Feb 1969 (Bray et al 1986, Silcock 1995). Two birds banded 16 Jul 1974 in Fontenelle Forest were identified as this species (Diggs and Diggs 1974), but the report was rejected by the NOURC due to “lack of specific measurements” and failure to eliminate “immature, worn, or molting Black-capped Chickadees” (Grenon 1991). A bird singing a four-part song was listened to carefully at Arbor Day Farm, Otoe Co, 24 Mar 1995, but plumage characters could not be discerned (Silcock 1995).
Carolina Chickadee is sedentary in Kansas and Missouri; the nearest Carolina Chickadee range is about 200 miles from Nebraska in west-central Missouri (Robbins 2018) and southeast Kansas (Thompson et al 2011).
Abbreviations
NOURC: Nebraska Ornithologists’ Union Records Committee
Literature Cited
Banks, R.C., J.W. Fitzpatrick, T.R. Howell, N.K. Johnson, B.L. Monroe Jr., H. Ouellet, J.V. Remsen Jr., and R.W. Storer. 1997. Forty-first supplement to the American Ornithologists’ Union Check-list of North American birds. Auk 114: 542-552.
Bray, T.E., B.K. Padelford, and W.R. Silcock. 1986. The birds of Nebraska: A critically evaluated list. Published by the authors, Bellevue, Nebraska, USA.
Diggs, H., and F. Diggs. 1974. Carolina Chickadees taken in Fontenelle Forest. NBR 42: 57.
Gill, F., D. Donsker, and P. Rasmussen (Eds). 2022. IOC World Bird List (v 12.2). Doi 10.14344/IOC.ML.12.2. http://www.worldbirdnames.org/.
Gill, F.B., B. Slikas and F.H. Sheldon. 2005. Phylogeny of titmice (Paridae): II. Species relationships based on sequences of the mitochondrial cytochrome-b gene. Auk 122: 121-143.
Grenon, A.G. 1991. 1991 (Fourth) Report of the NOU Records Committee. NBR 59: 150-155.
Robbins, M.B. 2018. The Status and Distribution of Birds in Missouri. University of Kansas Biodiversity Institute, Lawrence, Kansas, USA.
Silcock, W.R. 1995. Spring Field Report, March-May 1995. NBR 63: 34-60.
Slikas, B., F.H. Sheldon, and F.B. Gill. 1996. Phylogeny of titmice (Paridae): I. Estimate of relationships among subgenera based on DNA-DNA hybridization. Journal of Avian Biology 27: 70–82.
Thompson, M.C., C.A. Ely, B. Gress, C. Otte, S.T. Patti, D. Seibel, and E.A. Young. 2011. Birds of Kansas. University Press of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas, USA.
Recommended Citation
Silcock, W.R., and J.G. Jorgensen. 2023. Carolina Chickadee (Poecile carolinensis). In Birds of Nebraska — Online. www.BirdsofNebraska.org
Birds of Nebraska – Online
Updated 20 Nov 2023