Black-capped Chickadee

Poecile atricapilla

Order PASSERIFORMES - Family PARIDAE

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1. Cool Facts
2. Description
3. Similar Species
4. Sound
5. Range
6. Habitat
7. Food
8. Behavior
9. Reproduction
10. Conservation Status
11. Other Names

One of the most familiar and beloved birds in northern North America, the Black-capped Chickadee is a frequent visitor to bird feeders. Its apparently cheerful activity throughout the harshest winters has won it the admiration of many people.

Cool Facts

• The Black-Capped Chickadee hides seeds and other food items for later recovery. Each item is placed in a different spot and a bird can remember thousands of hiding places.

• The chickadee's simple-sounding calls have been found to be extremely complex and language-like. They code information on identity and recognition of other flocks as well as predator alarms and contact calls.

• Breeding pairs and nonbreeders join up into flocks outside of the breeding season. Nonbreeders may be members of several flocks, with a different position in the dominance hierarchy of each flock.

Description

• Size: 12-15 cm (5-6 in)
• Wingspan: 16-21 cm (6-8 in)
• Weight: 9-14 g (0.32-0.49 ounces)

• Small, short-billed bird.
• Black cap.
• Black bib.
• White cheeks.

• Back unstreaked gray.
• Wings and tail dark grayish.
• Flanks buffy.
• Upper wing feathers have white edging.
• Tail rather long.

Sex Differences

Sexes look alike.

Immature

Like adult.

Similar Species

• Carolina Chickadee is similar. Best distinguished by voice or measurements, but Black-capped Chickadees have larger bibs with indistinct edges and more white in the wings.
• Boreal and Chestnut-backed chickadees have browner plumage.

Sound

Song: two or three notes whistled, with first higher in pitch, "fee-bee-ee." Call: suggests name "chick-a-dee-dee."

»listen to songs of this species

Range

Summer Range

Across southern two-thirds of Canada and northern two-thirds of the United States, farther south in mountains.

Winter Range

Same as breeding range. In some winters, individuals can be found further south.

Habitat

• Deciduous and mixed deciduous/coniferous woodlands, open woods and parks, willow thickets, and cottonwood groves.
• Also in old fields and suburban areas.
• Most numerous at forest edges.

Food

Insects, especially small caterpillars. Also spiders, snails, slugs, centipedes, and some berries. Seeds in winter.

Behavior

Foraging

Gleans insects from foliage and tree bark, often hanging upside down to do so. Holds food against branch under feet to peck. Readily uses bird feeders.

Reproduction

Nest Type

Made of coarse materials such as moss. Lined with softer material like fur. In holes, typically in dead trees or rotten branches. Will use nest boxes.

Egg Description

Rather round. White marked with fine spots of reddish brown, often concentrated around larger end.

Averageg Size: 15.2 mm x 12.2 mm.
(.5 in x .6 in)

Incubation period: 12-13 days.

Clutch Size

Usually 6-8 eggs. Range: 1-13.

Condition at Hatching

Naked and helpless with small patches of down.
Chicks fledge in 14-18 days.

Conservation Status

Black-capped Chickadees have benefited from human-provided food and nest boxes, as well as increased forest edges caused by deforestation. However, overzealous forest management can reduce or eliminate natural nest sites.

Other Names

Mésange à tête noire (French)

Sources used to construct this page:

Smith, S. M. 1993. Black-capped Chickadee (Parus atricapillus). In The Birds of North America, No. 39 (A. Poole, P. Stettenheim, and F. Gill, Eds.). Philadelphia: The Academy of Natural Sciences; Washington, DC: The American Ornthologists' Union.