Carolina Chickadee

## Description

The Carolina chickadee (Poecile carolinensis ) is a small passerine bird in the tit family Paridae.

## Appearance

Carolina chickadees are small songbirds from North America. Their underparts are white with rusty brown on the flanks; their back is grey. They have a short dark bill, short wings, and a moderately long tail. Very similar to the Black-capped chickadee, the Carolina chickadee is distinguished by the slightly browner wing with the greater coverts brown (not whitish fringed) and the white fringing on the secondary feathers slightly less conspicuous; the tail is also slightly shorter and more square-ended.

## Distribution

Carolina chickadees breed in the United States from New Jersey west to southern Kansas and south to Florida and Texas. They are permanent residents and don’t migrate south even in severe winter weather. These small birds live in mixed or deciduous woods, riparian areas, shrublands, wetlands, and in urban and suburban areas.

## Behavior

Carolina chickadees are social birds and often form flocks of 8-10 birds. Each of the birds in a flock has a rank; while highly ranked birds will remain on the flock's territory for breeding, lower-ranked birds must find new breeding territory. Many other species of birds, including titmice, nuthatches, and warblers can often be found foraging in these flocks. Carolina chickadees feed by day hopping along tree branches searching for insects, sometimes hanging upside down or hovering; they may make short flights to catch insects in the air. They sometimes hammer seeds on a tree or shrub to open them and also will store seeds for later use. Carolina chickadees actively defend individual spaces of 2-5 ft (0.6-1.5 m) apart; if another bird encroaches on these spaces, the dominant bird may make gargle calls. At feeders, these birds will usually take a seed and fly to a branch isolated from other birds to eat it. Carolina chickadees usually sleep in cavities, though they may sleep in branches. Different members of a flock will sleep in the same cavity from night to night. While females usually sleep in the nest cavity, males will normally sleep on a nearby branch. The most famous call of these birds is the familiar ‘chick-a-dee-dee-dee’ which gave them their name and their song is ‘fee-bee-fee-bay’.

## Diet

Carolina chickadees have an omnivorous diet and feed both on animal and plant matter. Insects form a large part of their diet, especially in summer; seeds and berries become important in winter.

## Reproduction

Carolina chickadees are monogamous and typically form long-lasting pair bonds. They start to form pairs in winter. They nest in a hole in a tree; the pair excavates the nest, using a natural cavity or sometimes an old woodpecker nest. The female will build the nest out of moss and strips of bark; she will then line it with hair or plant fibers. Clutches are usually made up of 3-10 eggs and are incubated for 12-16 days. The nestling period is usually 16-19 days and chicks become independent 2 to 3 weeks later. At 10 months of age young Carolina chickadees become reproductively mature and are ready to breed.

## Population

### Population threats

This species doesn’t face any major threats at present.

### Population number

According to the All About Birds resource, the global breeding population of the Carolina chickadee is 13 million mature individuals. Currently, this species is classified as Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List and its numbers today are stable.

## Fun Facts for Kids

Carolina chickadees are the smallest chickadee in North America. Their eggs are about 1.5 cm (0.6 in) long and 1.1 cm (0.4 in) wide.

The habit of other songbirds joining Carolina chickadee flocks is that the chickadees call out whenever they find a good source of food. This calling out forms cohesion for the group and allows the other birds to find food more efficiently.

Carolina chickadees are able to lower their body temperatures to induce an intentional state of hypothermia called torpor. They do this to conserve energy during extremely cold winters. In extremely cold weather conditions they look for cavities where they can hide in and spend up to fifteen hours at a time in torpor; during this time they are awake but unresponsive; they should not be picked up and handled at this time, as the stress of being held may cause their death.