Black-Capped Chickadee

Black capped chickadee on a blackberrybramble
Black-capped chickadee on a blackberry bramble. Photo by Alain Yvan Séguin.

Appearance: Black-capped chickadees are small birds about 5 1/4″ long. They have a black cap – as well as a black throat and cheek. They have a white breasts and bellies, the body and wings are a gray-olive color with edges of white and the wing/belly edge is a soft “buff” tan.
During the summer, the buff area is more faded.

Diet: Insects & spiders (including their eggs & pupae), seeds, and small fruits, and berries.

Feeder food: Black-oil sunflower & safflower seeds (They peck a hole in the shell to get at the tiny seed bits inside), suet, peanut butter, and hulled peanuts.

Habitat: You’ll find this bird along the edges of forests and open wooded areas – including your backyard or even tree-lined parks in the city. They will also hang out in shrubs and willow thickets. Trees are still important for this bird because they are cavity nesters.

Nesting: Will next in an existing woodpecker hole high in a tree or man-made nesting box. They have 1 brood /season. The female lays anywhere from 1-13 eggs. Eggs are white with burgundy colored spots and about .5″ wide x .6″ long. She will incubate them for 12-13 days.

Migration: Black-capped chickadees are not migrators. They remain in their year-round range all seasons of the year.
Year-round range: Northern half of the US including Alaska, as well as all Canadian provinces except Nunavut.

Range Map

Black capped chickadee range map
Black-capped chickadee range map. Compliments of The Cornell Lab.