Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Newport, Oregon on 7 March 2010 by Greg Gillson.Earlier in the month I spent the weekend at Newport, Oregon. Around the Marine Science Center I found this Chestnut-backed Chickadee (see previous post about this species).
It was a cloudy morning, as it often is along the Oregon coast. I shot this at ISO 800 equivalent, which gives it a bit of grainy appearance.
The Chestnut-backed Chickadee was described to science by its discoverer, John Kirk Townsend, in 1837. He obtained the type specimen during a trip to the Oregon country in 1834-1836. He didn't keep very accurate notes about where he collected each species. His collection location for the Chestnut-backed Chickadee he shot was entered as the "forests of the Columbia River." So the type location of Chestnut-backed Chickadee became Ft. Vancouver, Washington, where he spent the most time after he arrived.
Townsend's lackadaisical note-keeping also produced some odd records. For instance, he named several southern seabirds from Oregon. These, no doubt, came from ocean trips to South America he made about the same time.
