Animal foods consist mainly of insects and spiders. Catepillars are preferred in the breeding season. Chickadees have been observed eating deer or skunk fat and fish. The female builds the nest alone, as well as incubating the eggs exclusively. Pairs have set territories, ranging from 1.5 to 5.3 ha.
Most pairs persist together for several years.
The black-capped chickadee social system has two extremes, one shown by teritorial pairs during the bredding season, and the other consisting of nonbreeding flocks. Habitat Black-capped chickadees prefer deciduous woodlands, open woods and parks, cottonwood groves, and willow thickets. They are most commonly seen near edges of wooded areas. While the clearing of forests for agriculture has led to more forest edge, which is favoraable to P. atricapillus , too much cutting can cause lack of natural nest sites. Birds of North America.