Poecile hudsonicus
adult
The Boreal Chickadee is a distinctive little songbird. The sexes are similar, as are adults and juveniles. All birds have a brown cap that tapers down the nape and joins the brown back. The wings are dark with faint pale feather margins. The face is white at the front, grading to gray on the cheeks, and the throat is black. The pale underparts are suffused with orange-buff on the flanks.
The Boreal Chickadee is present year-round in its northern and Arctic range. Although widespread, it is seldom numerous and typically territories are thinly scattered. To survive the harsh northern winters it relies on larders of stored seeds, collected in summer and fall. Although usually sedentary, populations are sometimes forced to move south if the seed crops fail.
adult
FACT FILE
LENGTH 5.5 in (14 cm)
FOOD Invertebrates and seeds
HABITAT Northern boreal forests
STATUS Widespread and fairly common resident
VOICE Song is a vibrant trill. Calls include a thin dsee and a tsika-day-day
