CAROLINA CHICKADEE GALLERY
(Poecile carolinensis)
eBird describes the Carolina Chickadee this way: Tiny, plump-bodied, big-headed bird is a familiar woodland resident and backyard visitor in the southeastern U.S. Gray overall with contrasting head pattern: black cap, white cheek, and black throat. Short, stubby bill is used for hammering open seeds. Often the core of mixed flocks of songbirds. Visits feeders. Nearly identical to Black-capped Chickadee, but note voice and range.
The Carolina Chickadee is one of the first birds that I began to see on a regular basis when I started bird watching in earnest in the Spring of 2020. They come to my feeder all day long, and I almost always see them at Warbler Pond in Warbler Woods when I visit there. Cute, energetic birds!
“Cool Facts” About the Carolina Chickadee From All About Birds…
- Where the two species ranges come in contact, the Carolina and Black-capped chickadees occasionally hybridize. Hybrids can sing the songs of either species, or might sing something intermediate.
- In winter, Carolina Chickadees live in flocks of two to eight birds and defend areas against other flocks. Dominant birds in these flocks establish breeding territories in the summer that were part of the winter flock’s range.
- The pair bond between a male and female Carolina Chickadee can remain intact for several years. The probability that a pair will remain together seems to vary among populations, with nearly all pairs remaining together in subsequent years in a study in Texas, but only half staying together in a study in Tennessee. If a nest attempt fails, a female may seek out a new male on a different territory.
- Most members of a winter flock stay in the same flock all season, but some birds are “flock switchers.” Some of these belong to one flock and then switch, joining another flock permanently and exclusively for the rest of the season. Other flock switchers regularly move between flocks. These flock-switchers may have different rankings in the hierarchy of each flock.
- The oldest known Carolina Chickadee was at least 10 years, 11 months old when it was recaptured and rereleased during banding operations in West Virginia in 1974. It had been banded in the same state in 1963.