Bad Idea, but Nice Birds

The initial idea behind this post was some sort of competition, something like a rumble in the jungle and a beauty pageant, a duel between two species I wanted to use to clarify once and for all which continent had the better birds, Europe or North America.
However, upon choosing the pictures I couldn't help but feel the subjects of my initial idea, the two species involved, were just far too cute for anything competitive. So here I am now, ready and motivated to write a post but deprived of an idea.

Well ...

I suppose I just move on to the pics then.

First up, one of our surely most amazing birds - and by "our" I now mean Europe - the breath-taking Long-tailed Tit.

Even though they breed commonly in this part of Germany - and the species is widespread throughout the continent - we mostly see and notice them in winter when they move around in small yet noisy flocks. The birds seen below are of a North-Eastern race as can be seen by their purely white heads. Other subspecies - and there are plenty of them - show a more stripy head and if science and taxonomy were based upon intuition, I'd say the Long-tailed Tit was ripe for a few splits. Well, for the time being there's only one, but frankly, we don't care too much as long as we get to see them often.




Oh, and in case you were wondering: we're not too sad that Giant Pandas don't occur here naturally...



The North American species I wanted to toss into the ring is none other than the Black-capped Chickadee.

Actually, "the Chick" shares quite a few things with its European relatives, I mean beyond taxonomy: it is simply too common to be noticed and truly appreciated by birders.
Which is a pity, it really is!
It might not have the delicate blue of a Blue Tit or the fine pattern of a Crested Tit but it beats the European Marsh's and Willow's and would surely have been a fierce opponent had I stuck to my initial plan with this post.

Honestly, could you easily decide which one of the two is the cutest, the nicest or most beautiful?

Go on, comment, but provide reasons if you can!



Now, looking at the pictures again, I suppose a simple line of text would have been sufficient:

Beauty is in the eye of the birder