Black-capped Chickadees will visit your yard
if you have feeders and water.
Identification and Pictures
These are small fluffy round birds 4 to 5 ½
inches. They have a black cap and bib with white cheeks. Upper
parts are gray with lighter under parts under parts, which may
have a bit of yellow. The sides are a buff color with white
feathers on the wings.
Some say this bird is fun to watch
because of its acrobatic nature actions as it hangs upside
down or forages through branches.
It is hard to tell male from female as indicated in this poem
by a Wisconsin bird bander.
"Here’s to the little chickadee;
The sexes are alike, you see.
It’s hard to tell the she from he;
But he can tell … and so can she!"
Harold Wilson
Range and Habitat
There are 10 Chickadee species in North
America and Black capped Chickadees are the most familiar to
our backyards. They can be found throughout the northern
U.S.. Canada and Alaska. They like open woods, willow
thickets, groves, parks with shade trees, farmlands and
backyards with trees and shrubs. Chickadees can seen in
your yard in both summer and winter.
Breeding and Nesting
Breeding season is early April to mid May
depending on the area.
They breed in forests and open areas with scattered trees.
Both birds with excavate a nest cavity in a stump or tree.
The cavity will be around 9 inches deep and have moss or
plant down in the base. They sometimes use an old woodpecker
hole or a nest box.
The female alone will incubate usually 6 to 8 eggs. Eggs are
smooth, white or creamy with find purplish or reddish-brown
speckles. Both parents tend the young birds for around two
weeks when they can leave the nest. The young will remain
with the parents for 3 to 4 weeks.
Song and Call
When Chickadees are around there is a
constant chatter of clear chick-a-dee-dee-dee and
fee-bee-bee.
Note on some browsers you will not be able to see or use the
drop down sound list. If you can't use it try the sound
links below.
Natural foods are insects and seeds. They
will come to both suet and feeders with sunflower and other
seeds. They are a very curious and trusting little bird and
will often be quite tame.
At feeders it eats
sunflower seeds by holding them with its feet while cracking
them open with a few quick thrust of its bill.
Chickadees like to grab a seed from
a feeder and fly to a near by tree to crack it open and eat
it. It can be fun to watch them flying back and forth from tree to
feeder and back again.
capped Chickadees are the most familiar to
our backyards. They can be found throughout the northern
U.S.. Canada and Alaska. They like open woods, willow
thickets, groves, parks with shade trees, farmlands and
backyards with trees and shrubs. Chickadees can seen in
your yard in both summer and winter.
Get Chickadee posters
