About

The Black-capped Chickadee is almost identical to the Carolina Chickadee, but the two have little range overlap. While the Carolina Chickadee is a year-round resident from central Maryland south to central Florida and west to Texas, the Black-capped Chickadee takes the more northern and western range. It is resident as far west as northern California and Alaska. The Black-capped Chickadee is larger, has white edging on the wings, and a black "bib" that extends further down its chest. They are most easily distinguished by their songs.

The Black-capped Chickadee nests in woodland areas, but spends much of its time at feeders in suburban areas. As shown above, this species can become quite tolerant of humans, and will sometimes eat from one's hand. The killer chickadees of Amherst Island, Ontario, where the top photo was taken, are known for their extreme willingness to do so. Chickadees form mixed foraging flocks outside of breeding season, and are often found with titmice, nuthatches, kinglets, and the smaller woodpeckers. If the nest is disturbed, the female hisses like a snake to deter potential predators.

MDOsprey post from Jim Stasz (11/9/2005): "I might add something that is not in most field guides. If you look at where the black of the head meets the nape, on Carolina the black is rounded and has a limited boundary with the gray back and on Black-capped, the nape is squared with a larger shared boundary with the gray of the back. Additionally, the corners of the bib on Black-capped are 'ragged' The Black-caps that are arriving are from the northern subspecies and are different from the residents of western Maryland and most of Pennsylvania. They average larger, have proportionately long tails [watch when they fly onerhead] and the very white cheeks really contrast with the underparts..."

Synonyms:

• BCCH

Links:

• linkView taxon at iNaturalist
• linkView taxon at GBIF