General

Boreal Chickadee: Large chickadee with brown upperparts, dark brown cap, small black bib, gray face and neck, white cheek, rufous sides, and white underparts. Wings and tail are gray. Sexes are similar.

Range and Habitat

Boreal Chickadee: Breeds from northern Alaska east to Labrador and Newfoundland, south to northern edge of U.S. Occasionally wanders southward during winter. Usually found in coniferous forests.

Listen to Call

Voice Text

"chick-a-dee-dee-dee", "chick-chee-day-day"

Interesting Facts

 The Boreal Chickadee is one of the few birds living completely within the northern boreal forests of Canada and the United States. It prefers dense conifer stands, particularly black spruce and balsam fir.

 During late summer and early fall, when there is an abundance of caterpillars and seeds, they store food for winter among needles or under the bark of branches at a height that will be above the winter snow cover.

 An analysis of their cached items found that the only seeds stored were those of spruce trees. Most of the stashed items were insect larvae.

 A group of chickadees are collectively known as a "banditry" and a "dissimulation" of chickadees.

Author

Gary Owen Dick