Black-capped Chickadee

Parus atricapillus

Black-capped Chickadee. Photo:Jake Vander Zanden

The black-capped chickadee may be the most well loved year-round resident bird species of Canada. It's distinctive repertoire of songs, particular it's chickadee song (chic-a-dee-dee-dee-dee-dee!), is heard and enjoyed by just about anyone with a backyard bird feeder. Black-capped chickadees are also easily tamed, and frequently will take food right out of your hand! It seems as if this gregarious species inhabits most of the deciduous wooded areas of Southern Canada. Further north, population levels drop off, possibly as a result of competition with its brown-headed cousin, the boreal chickadee. The black-capped chickadee excavates it's own nesting cavities into rotting trees; poplar and birch seem to be the most common species used for nests.

Distribution of Black-capped Chickadee in Canada