Gray-headed Chickadee

Poecile cinctusOrder: PASSERIFORMESFamily: Titmice and Chickadees (Paridae)

Breeding Location:

Forests

Breeding Type:

Monogamous, Solitary nester

Breeding Population:

Rare

Egg Color:

White with red brown, olive or gray marks

Number of Eggs:

7 - 9

Incubation Days:

14 - 18

Egg Incubator:

Female

Nest Material:

Decaying wood, grass, moss, animal hair.

Migration:

Nonmigratory

Overview

Gray-headed Chickadee: Medium chickadee with gray-brown back, gray cap, black bib, white cheeks, and white underparts washed with buff-gray on sides and flanks. Wings and tail are gray with white-edged feathers. Formerly called the Siberian Tit, it is the hardiest of all chickadees.

Range and Habitat

Gray-headed Chickadee: North American range is restricted to central Alaska and far northwestern Canada. Lives primarily among scattered conifers and riparian willow and aspen thickets.

Breeding and Nesting

Gray-headed Chickadee: Seven to nine white eggs marked with red brown, olive or gray, are laid in a nest made of grass, cottonwood down, flowers, fur, and cocoons, lined with grass, other vegetation, and animal fur, and built 4 to 28 feet above the ground in a deciduous tree, snag, or nest box. Incubation ranges from 13 to 16 days and is carried out by the female.

Foraging and Feeding

Gray-headed Chickadee: Feeds on insects, spiders, food scraps, conifer seeds, and berries; forages in conifers and shrubs, gleaning insects from trunks, branches, and foliage.

Readily Eats

Suet, Sunflower Seed

Vocalization

Gray-headed Chickadee: Call is a series of grating "dee deer" notes.

Similar Species

Gray-headed Chickadee: Boreal Chickadee has brown cap, back, and rump, lacks white edges on wing feathers, and has shorter tail. Black-capped Chickadee has black cap, gray back, and extensive white edges on wing feathers.

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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.

Gray-headed Chickadee

● Song: "dee deer"

● Foraging & Feeding: Gray-headed Chickadee: Feeds on insects, spiders, food scraps, conifer seeds, and berries; forages in conifers and shrubs, gleaning insects from trunks, branches, and foliage.

● Breeding & nesting: Gray-headed Chickadee: Seven to nine white eggs marked with red brown, olive or gray, are laid in a nest made of grass, cottonwood down, flowers, fur, and cocoons, lined with grass, other vegetation, and animal fur, and built 4 to 28 feet above the ground in a deciduous tree, snag, or nest box. Incubation ranges from 13 to 16 days and is carried out by the female.

● Similar species: Gray-headed Chickadee: Boreal Chickadee has brown cap, back, and rump, lacks white edges on wing feathers, and has shorter tail. Black-capped Chickadee has black cap, gray back, and extensive white edges on wing feathers.

Flight Pattern

Short slow fluttering flights with rapid wing beats. May alternate quick wing beats with wings pulled to sides.

Gray-headed Chickadee Breeding Male Body Illustration

● Range & Habitat: Gray-headed Chickadee: North American range is restricted to central Alaska and far northwestern Canada. Lives primarily among scattered conifers and riparian willow and aspen thickets.

^BreedingMonogamous, Solitary nester

^PopulationRare

^MigrationNonmigratory

^Weight0.4 Ounces

Field Guide to Birds of North America