Black-capped Chickadee

Overview

Black-capped Chickadee: Medium-sized, stocky chickadee with pale gray upperparts and breast and pale olive-brown underparts. The black cap and bib and white cheeks are conspicuous. Black bill is short and thin. Wings are dark with broad white edges on feathers. State bird of Maine and Massachusetts.

Range and Habitat

Black-capped Chickadee: Breeds from Alaska to Newfoundland, south to northern California, northern New Mexico, Missouri, and northern New Jersey; spends winters south to Maryland. Inhabits deciduous and mixed forests and open woodlands; often occurs in suburban areas during winter.

INTERESTING FACTS

It is the state bird of Maine and Massachusetts.
The song of the Black-capped Chickadee is one of the most complex vocalizations of all animals, acting as a contact call, an alarm call, to identify an individual, or to indicate recognition of a particular flock.
They may cache food in hundreds of different sites, recalling those locations and retrieving food up to 28 days later.
A group of chickadees are collectively known as a "banditry" and a "dissimulation" of chickadees.

The Black-capped Chickadee is a small songbird found in deciduous and mixed woodlands in Canada, Alaska and other northern parts of the United States. In New Brunswick, New Jersey, this species overlaps with the Carolina Chickadee. The two are almost identical, except for a difference in call patterns and pitch. They may also interbreed in this area. The Black-capped Chickadee may sometimes migrate south in the winter, but is typically non-migratory. They nest in existing holes in trees, and will sometimes use old woodpecker nests for raising their young. Their current conservation rating is Least Concern.