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Carolina Chickadee

Poecile carolinensisOrder: PASSERIFORMESFamily: Titmice and Chickadees (Paridae)

Carolina Chickadee Breeding Male Portrait
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General

Carolina Chickadee: Small chickadee with gray upperparts, distinct black cap and bib, dull white cheeks, and white underparts with rust-brown flanks. Bill is dark and short. Sexes are similar.

Range and Habitat

Carolina Chickadee: Occurs as far north as Delaware, central Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois and as far west as Oklahoma and central Texas. Common throughout the southeast U.S. except for extreme southern Florida. Frequents deciduous and mixed woodlands, swamps, riparian areas, open woods, and parks; also found in suburban and urban areas.

Listen to Call

Voice Text

"fee-bee-fee-bay", "chick-a-dee-dee"

Interesting Facts

  • Carolina Chickadees are often found foraging in mixed-species flocks with their relative the Tufted Titmouse.
  • Hybridization sometimes occurs with the Blacked-capped Chickadee where the species’ populations overlap along the eastern section of their ranges.
  • The Carolina Chickadee will regularly visit bird feeders but prefers to take the food to a nearby branch to eat.
  • A group of chickadees are collectively known as "a banditry of chickadees", and a "dissimulation of chickadees"


Author

Gary Owen Dick

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Range Map for Carolina Chickadee
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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.
Family
Species Poecile carolinensis
Length4 - 5 Inches
Wingspan7 Inches

Carolina Chickadee

Carolina Chickadee: Small chickadee with gray upperparts, distinct black cap and bib, dull white cheeks, and white underparts with rust-brown flanks. Short, black bill. When disturbed in its nest during incubation, it will hiss and strike intruders, similar to how a snake would act.

● Song: "fee-bee-fee-bay", "chick-a-dee-dee"

● Foraging & Feeding: Carolina Chickadee: Eats primarily insects, spiders, fruits, and seeds; forages by searching among tree branches, trunks, pinecones, and dead leaf clusters.

● Breeding & nesting: Carolina Chickadee: Five to eight white eggs with red brown markings are laid in a cavity lined with down and fine plant materials. Both sexes incubate eggs for 11 to 12 days.

● Similar species: Carolina Chickadee: Black-capped Chickadee is larger, has more white on wings, slightly larger black bib, and bright white cheeks.

Flight Pattern

Short weak fluttering flight with rapid beats, sometimes in longer flights folds wings to sides after several quick strokes.
Carolina Chickadee Breeding Male Body Illustration
● Range & Habitat: Carolina Chickadee: Occurs as far north as Delaware, central Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois and as far west as Oklahoma and central Texas. Common throughout the southeast U.S. except for extreme southern Florida. Frequents deciduous and mixed woodlands, swamps, riparian areas, open woods, and parks; also found in suburban and urban areas.
BreedingMonogamous
Population
MigrationNonmigratory
Weight0.4 Ounces