Chickadee Identification

A common chickadee in the U.S. is the Black-capped Chickadee. This plump little bird can be seen hopping and hanging upside-down from tree branches. They prefer to build their nesting holes in rotting tree stumps. Chickadees tend to travel in flocks and are gregarious little birds.

Another type of Chickadee found in the United States is the Boreal Chickadee, which lives in the Washington Cascades, the Rocky Mountains, northern Montana, and the Appalachians.

It has a dark brown cap, black bib, brown sides, grey mantle, and white belly. It is slightly larger than the Black-Capped Chickadee. The third variety of American Chickadee is the lovely Chestnut-Backed Chickadee, which features the same black cap but has chestnut colored flanks and back. It is 4 1/2" to 5" in size and inhabits the Pacific rainforest. In the coastal forests of the northwest, Chestnut-Backed and Black-Capped Chickadees overlap and can be seen feeding from the same conifers. The Chestnut-Backed prefers the upper half of the tree while the Black-Capped feeds on the lower half. Bird watchers feel the utmost fondness for this brisk, active bird. Though alert, they are not an especially shy bird and a patient birder can draw fairly near to a tree where Chickadees are perched.