Perching Birds

Boreal Chickadee  Poecile hudsonica

Family: Chickadees and Titmice, Paridae

Audio: Martyn Stewart, © Naturesound.org

An estimated 88% of the species' North American population breeds within the Boreal Forest.

Description  5-5 1/2" (13-14 cm). Similar to Black-capped Chickadee, but crown and back brown, flanks rufous.

Habitat  Coniferous forests.

Nesting  5-7 white eggs, lightly speckled with red-brown, in a cup of plant down, feathers, and moss in a natural cavity, often only a few feet from the ground.

Voice  A husky chick-a-dee-dee, lazier and more nasal than call of Black-capped.

Range  Breeds from northern Alaska east to Labrador and Newfoundland, south to northern edge of United States. Occasionally wanders southward in winter.

Discussion  Breeds from northern Alaska east to Labrador and Newfoundland, south to northern edge of United States. Occasionally wanders southward in winter. Unlike the Black-capped Chickadee, this species spends most of its time in the interior of dense spruces, coming less readily to the tips of branches, and so it is much less easily observed. During late summer and early fall, when there is an abundance of caterpillars and seeds, Boreal Chickadees store food for winter among needles or under the bark of branches at a height that will be above the winter snow cover.