Fun Facts About Chickadees

Birdorable Black-capped Chickadee on a branch

Black-capped Chickadee

Dive into the world of chickadees with these fascinating and fun facts! Known for their playful nature and delightful chirps, chickadees are more than just tiny birds flitting through your backyard. Here we go:

  • There are seven species of chickadee in the world. Chickadees, along with titmice, belong to the family Paridae. This family of songbirds also includes birds known as tits.
  • The Black-capped Chickadee is the state bird of both Maine and Massachusetts. It is also the provincial bird of New Brunswick.
  • The Grey-headed Chickadee is also known as the Siberian Tit. Strangely, it does not have a grey head.
  • These little birds are known as "chickadees" because of their alarm call. This type of name is onomatopoetic -- the word is the sound that it describes.
  • The more "dee" notes at the end of a chickadee call indicate increasing levels of agitation. For instance, a chickadee may end their call with just one "dee" when a known person fills a favorite bird feeder. An owl roosting near the feeding station would warrant many more "dee" notes.
  • This is what the call of the Black-capped Chickadee sounds like:
     
  • While some species may move seasonally, for the most part chickadees are non-migratory. Passing migrant species may seek out feeding flocks of chickadees (finding their "chick-a-dee" call familiar) as they stop along their migration route. As flocks of chickadees attract migratory birds, they also attract birdwatchers!
Birdorable Boreal Chickadee on a branch

Boreal Chickadee

  • Chickadees are known to store food items like seeds or insect larvae in times of abundance. The cached food may be retrieved in leaner times. The Mexican Chickadee is the only chickadee which does not cache food.
  • Chickadees are cavity nesters. They use old woodpecker holes or excavate their own cavities in rotted or soft wood. They will also use birdhouses.
  • Chestnut-backed Chickadees like to line their nests with animal hair, with fur from animals like coyotes, skunk, rabbits, and others making up to half of the nest's materials.
  • A group of chickadees can be called a banditry of chickadees. This collective noun probably refers to the mask-like appearance of chickadee species.
  • The range of Black-capped Chickadees overlaps with that of Carolina Chickadees. They look so much alike that even the birds themselves may have a hard time telling each other apart - they hybridize! Offspring of a mixed pair sing a song that is three notes long. That's one less note than the Carolina parent, and one more note than the Black-capped parent!
Birdorable Mountain Chickadee overlooking the Grand Canyon

Mountain Chickadee

Five species of chickadee found in North American can be found right here on Birdorable! See the following species pages:

Birdorable Chickadee Gifts

Comments

Spurwing Plover on November 13, 2015 at 7:45 PM wrote:
We have the Moutian Chickadee and their call sounds like their saying Cheese Burger
Gianna on December 23, 2015 at 2:00 PM wrote:
I Am doing a bird report on the chickadee ๐Ÿฆ and I find them adorable and fascinating. If u have to do a project for birds pick this one
John on February 28, 2016 at 3:28 PM wrote:
Chickadees are sooo cute. I've seen a lot of birds in my life time but none as cut as the Black Chickadee.
Emily on May 6, 2016 at 1:18 PM wrote:
soooo cute!
Randy on August 4, 2016 at 1:41 AM wrote:
When I was a kid I stood still by our maple in central Canada with bread in my hand. I was thrilled and amazed when a chickadee perched on my fingers for his treat. 45 years later i can still remember how it felt. Of course, we tamed squirrels and other critters - except for politians. Still feeding those birds!
Damien on October 12, 2016 at 2:49 PM wrote:
I love these birds.๐Ÿฆ๐Ÿฆ๐Ÿฆ๐Ÿฆ๐Ÿฆ๐Ÿฆ๐Ÿฆ๐Ÿฆ๐Ÿฆ๐Ÿฆ๐Ÿฆ๐Ÿฆ๐Ÿฆ๐Ÿฆ๐Ÿฆ๐Ÿฆ๐Ÿฆ๐Ÿฆ๐Ÿฆ๐Ÿฆ๐Ÿฆ๐Ÿฆ๐Ÿฆ๐Ÿฆ๐Ÿฆ๐Ÿฆ๐Ÿฆ๐Ÿฆ๐Ÿฆ
Lily on October 28, 2016 at 10:51 PM wrote:
I am 70 years old now, but i remember when I was 10, I was standing outside feeding bread to my ducks and I heard a chickadee. Surprisingly, the chickadee landed on my head. How i miss chickadees.
Louise Warner on February 15, 2017 at 8:03 PM wrote:
we have the black capped.
Jesse Jackie Late on July 5, 2018 at 8:01 AM wrote:
I'm amazed at how brave they are around humans. Just started feeding birds this year and I opened the front door and was talking out loud to tell my boyfriend that we have a bird at the feeder. The cheep cheep didn't fly away like many would have from hearing my voice. I was impressed and find the little cheep cheep to be so adorable
Anonoymous on June 4, 2019 at 5:42 PM wrote:
I am doing a essay for chickadees and I love them due to their cuteness
Leinohea on April 29, 2020 at 2:46 PM wrote:
AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Miles on May 11, 2020 at 4:52 PM wrote:
i dont like pokemon
Tessa on November 12, 2020 at 11:11 PM wrote:
I love chickadees I had some nest in my yard! cool facts!
Nancy Strouse on November 30, 2020 at 1:47 AM wrote:
Birds r my favorite animal and chickadees r my favorite kind of bird!!!!!!! A chickadee I named chobums eat out of my hand and he changed my life ๐Ÿฆ๐Ÿ˜
Ayelet on December 4, 2020 at 1:24 PM wrote:
Soooo cute๐Ÿ˜ Iโ€™m doing a bird report about it and itโ€™s so much fun learning about the black capped chickadee
donald root on December 13, 2020 at 5:08 PM wrote:
live in mid-coast Maine. have black capped chickadees. none at feeder early. went out side and filled feeder with black oil sunflower seeds. chickadees were slow to respond. took them at least 2 or 3 minutes to arrive quickly joined by the titmice. these birds watch me like a hawk, oops make that like a chickadee.
Blaze on January 20, 2022 at 3:07 PM wrote:
I love the noises!
Spurwing Plover on January 14, 2023 at 8:27 AM wrote:
The Mountain Chickadee calls Cheese Burger

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