The Difference Between Chickadees

I have grown up with 'chickadees'.  Those jaunty little birds with their black heads.  Now it turns out what I was use to seeing was the "Carolina" chickadee.  Makes sense, I was in North Carolina, but I also grew up with them in Tennessee and Texas.  I thought they were everywhere.

They are everywhere, just different.  Across the northern part of the United States we have the "Black-capped" chickadee.  This little fellow.... 

Now comes the bird lesson and why I spent a week "stalking" the bird feeder.    The guy above has a solid black cap and a bit of rust on his chest and some white on his wings.

Then there is the "Mountain" chickadee, which I thought I caught a glimpse of and have been hoping for a picture all week.

This is the "Mountain" chickadee.  Not as widespread as the "Black-capped" and with some subtle differences.  This guy has a streak of white on either side of his head over the eyes.  He doesn't have the rust coloration on his chest and not quite the amount of 'color' on his wings.  Normally these guys like to stay in the mountains, hence the name, but we have a huge spruce tree in the back yard (among other trees), so I am sure that is why he is there.

Turns out, he has been in the yard for a while now, I just haven't noticed the little streak of white on his head which would set him apart from his cousin.  I only have a couple of chickadees coming to the feeder, versus a ton of sparrows of all species, so he got lost in the crowd.