Black-Capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus)

County List:

Rule:

Forested or Mixed Forested/Nonforested Landscapes

      (Any Forested Upland Except Conifer Plantations (Pole or Sm Saw or Lg Saw or Uneven))
      or (Any Lowland Deciduous (Pole or Sm Saw or Lg Saw or Uneven))
      or (Any Lowland Coniferous (Pole or Sm Saw or Lg Saw or Uneven))
      or (Mixed Lowland Conifer (Pole or Sm Saw or Lg Saw or Uneven))
   containing:
      (Snags or Man-made Structures)

Habitat List:

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Literature:

Habitat: Chickadees nest in cavities that they excavate themselves, most often in small dead tree stubs about 12 cm in diameter at the hole. A variety of tree species are used, including blue beech, willow, birch, and pine. If no sites suitable for excavation are available, birds occasionally accept nest boxes.

Few forest or scrub habitats totally lack possible nest sites and chickadees take a variety of foods from a variety of sites. As a consequence of these broad tolerances, chickadees were reported from 14 of the Atlas habitat types. They were frequently found in virtually every forest type, dry, mesic, or wet and conifer, mixed, or deciduous, with little evident preference. Good numbers were also reported in wetland shrub and residential areas.

Habitat: Breeding: Deciduous, coniferous, or mixed woodlands (mixed preferred). Frequents both heavily forested and residential areas. Wintering: Frequents city parks and residential areas with feeding stations adjacent to breeding habitat. Birds generally remain in breeding areas.

Special Habitat Requirements: Require dead standing trees (minimum dbh 4 in) for excavating cavities or trees with existing cavities for nesting. Comparatively open situations (nesting) near deeper woods (feeding).

A study by Odum revealed that nests were often located in open woods or forest edges and feeding was heaviest in deep woods.

Habitat: Mixed and deciduous woods; willow thickets, groves, shade trees. Most common in open woods and forest edges, especially where birches or alders grow; avoids purely coniferous forest. Where it overlaps with other chickadee species in the north and west, Black-capped is mostly restricted to deciduous groves. Will live in suburbs as long as nest sites are available.

Diet: Mostly insects, seeds and berries. Diet varies with season; vegetable matter (seeds and fruits) may be no more than 10% of diet in summer, up to 50% in winter. Summer diet is mostly caterpillars and other insects, also some spiders, snails, and other invertebrates; also eats berries. In winter, feeds on insects (especially their eggs and pupae), seeds, berries, small fruits. Will eat fat of dead animals.

Nest: Site is in hole in tree, typically enlargement of small natural cavity in rotten wood, sometimes old woodpecker hole or nesting box; usually 5-20 feet above the ground. In natural cavity, both sexes help excavate or enlarge the interior. Nest has foundation of moss or other matter, lining of softer material such as animal hair.