How to Identify aCarolina Chickadee
Poecile carolinensis · 4.5–5.1 in (11.5–13 cm)
Male vs. female
Male
Black cap and bib, white cheeks, soft gray back, pale buff-washed sides. Sexes look alike.
Female
Identical to the male in the field; the sexes cannot be reliably separated by plumage.
Male photo: Dan Pancamo / Wikimedia, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Second photo: lwolfartist / Wikimedia, CC BY 2.0
Field marks
- Black cap and black throat bib with clean white cheeks
- Gray back and wings with little white edging on the wing feathers
- Small, round-bodied, with a short bill and long tail
- Buff wash along the flanks rather than bright rufous
Similar species
What it sounds like
A fast, high four-note "fee-bee-fee-bay" whistle, and a chickadee-dee call quicker and thinner than the Black-capped.
Behaviour that gives it away
Takes one seed from a feeder and carries it to a branch to hammer it open rather than eating in place, and often leads mixed winter flocks of titmice, nuthatches and warblers.
Habitat & range
Woodlands, swampy forest, parks and backyards across the southeastern and south-central United States.
When you'll see it
Present all year in southeastern, eastern and central North America.
What it eats
Insects, spiders, seeds and berries; a constant visitor to sunflower feeders and suet.
Did you know?
Where its range meets the Black-capped Chickadee the two species hybridize, and birds in that narrow zone can sing both species’ songs.
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