Carolina Chickadee

Poecile carolinensis
Chickadee family (Paridae)

A small songbird, 4 ¼” long. Black cap and bib, white cheek, gray back, whitish-gray belly, whitish underparts may be tinged with gray or brown on flanks and under tail.

Habitat:
Deciduous forest.

Nesting:
Cavity nester. Excavates a nest cavity in dead trees or in dead limbs of living trees. Also nests in artificial nest boxes. Eggs are white with reddish spots. Clutch size – 6 eggs.

Voice:

Song is a whistled “fee-bee fee-bay”.  Call is the familiar “chick-a-dee-dee-dee”.

In the Nature Park:
Year-round resident. Nests in the forest and also uses artificial nest boxes in the forest. During winter, Carolina Chickadees occur in mixed-species foraging flocks with Tufted Titmice, White-breasted Nuthatches, and Downy Woodpeckers.

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