Black-capped Chickadee

About the Black-capped Chickadee

The black-capped chickadee (Poecile atricapillus) is a small, nonmigratory, North American passerine bird that lives in deciduous and mixed forests. It is a member of the Paridae family, also known as tits. It has a distinct black cap on its head, a black bib underneath, and white cheeks. It has a white belly, buff sides, and grey wings, back, and tail. The bird is well known for its vocalizations, including its fee-bee song and its chick-a-dee-dee-dee call, from which it derives its name.

The black-capped chickadee is widely distributed throughout North America, ranging from the northern United States to southern Canada and all the way up to Alaska and Yukon. It feeds primarily on insects and seeds, and is known for its ability to cache food for use during the winter. The hippocampus of the black-capped chickadee grows during the caching season, which is believed to help it better remember its cache locations. The black-capped chickadee is a social bird and forms strict dominance hierarchies within its flock. During the winter, these flocks include other bird species. It has the ability to lower its body temperature during cold winter nights, allowing it to conserve energy.

Black-capped chickadees build nests in tree cavities, with the nesting season starting in late April and lasting until late June. They lay on average 6–8 eggs, which hatch after 11–14 days. Juveniles fledge 12–16 days after hatching.

The population of black-capped chickadees is thought to be increasing, and they are considered a species of least concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). It is the state bird of both Massachusetts and Maine in the United States, and the provincial bird of New Brunswick in Canada. Wikipedia →