Poecile atricapillus
adult
The Black-capped Chickadee is a familiar songbird. The sexes are similar, and both adults and juveniles have a gray-buff back. The wings are mostly dark but have a pale panel created by whitish margins to the inner flight feathers and greater coverts. The cheeks are white, and this color extends to the sides of the nape. The head has a black cap that tapers down the nape. There is a black throat and bib, and the underparts are otherwise pale with a subtle pinkish-buff suffusion to the rear of the flanks. The dark tail has pale feather margins, the legs are blue-gray, and the bill is dark.
The Black-capped Chickadee is present year-round across much of central North America. It favors woodland but is a familiar visitor to garden feeders, especially outside the breeding season. Although generally sedentary, it often consorts with nomadic mixed-species songbird flocks in winter. In the wild, Black-capped Chickadees nest in treeholes, but they will happily use artificial nestboxes.
adult
FACT FILE
LENGTH 5.25 in (13.5 cm)
FOOD Invertebrates and seeds
HABITAT Wide range of wooded habitats
STATUS Widespread and common resident
VOICE Song is a whistled, disyllabic fee-bee. Onomatopoeic call is chika-dee-dee-dee
