Boreal Chickadee

Poecile hudsonicusOrder: PASSERIFORMES Family: Titmice and Chickadees (Paridae)

Codes: Common Name: BOCH Scientific Name: POEHUD ITIS Taxonomic No.: 554386

Breeding Location:

Forests

Breeding Type:

Monogamous, Small colonies

Breeding Population:

Fairly common

Egg Color:

White with red brown specks

Number of Eggs:

4 - 9

Incubation Days:

11 - 16

Egg Incubator:

Female

Nest Material:

Bark strips, mosses, plant down, lichen, animal fur and hair.

Migration:

Nonmigratory

General

Boreal Chickadee: Large chickadee with brown upperparts, dark brown cap, small black bib, gray face and neck, white cheek, rufous sides, and white underparts. Wings and tail are gray. Sexes are similar.

Range and Habitat

Boreal Chickadee: Breeds from northern Alaska east to Labrador and Newfoundland, south to northern edge of U.S. Occasionally wanders southward during winter. Usually found in coniferous forests.

Breeding and Nesting

Boreal Chickadee: Four to nine white eggs with red brown specks are laid in a cavity nest made of decaying wood, grass, moss, and animal hair, usually from 1 to 15 feet above the ground. Incubation ranges from 14 to 18 days and is carried out by the female.

Foraging and Feeding

Boreal Chickadee: Eats variety of insects, insect eggs, and seeds. Mostly forages in conifers.

Readily Eats

Suet, Sunflower Seed

Vocalization

Boreal Chickadee: Song is short and warbled. Call is a drawling "chick-a-dee-dee-dee" or "chick-chee-day-day."

Similar Species

Boreal Chickadee: Gray-headed Chickadee has more white on cheeks, gray-brown cap, longer tail, paler flanks, and gray-brown upperparts. Black-capped Chickadee has black cap, pale gray upperparts, large white cheek patch extending onto hind neck, and white-edged tertials and secondaries.

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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.

Boreal Chickadee

Boreal Chickadee: Large chickadee, brown upperparts, dark brown cap, small black bib, gray face and neck, white cheek, rufous sides, white underparts. Gray wings, tail. Short, weak flights on rapidly beating wings. Alternates several quick, shallow strokes with wings pulled to sides.

● Song: "chick-a-dee-dee-dee", "chick-chee-day-day"

● Foraging & Feeding: Boreal Chickadee: Eats variety of insects, insect eggs, and seeds. Mostly forages in conifers.

● Breeding & nesting: Boreal Chickadee: Four to nine white eggs with red brown specks are laid in a cavity nest made of decaying wood, grass, moss, and animal hair, usually from 1 to 15 feet above the ground. Incubation ranges from 14 to 18 days and is carried out by the female.

● Similar species: Boreal Chickadee: Gray-headed Chickadee has more white on cheeks, gray-brown cap, longer tail, paler flanks, and gray-brown upperparts. Black-capped Chickadee has black cap, pale gray upperparts, large white cheek patch extending onto hind neck, and white-edged tertials and secondaries.

Flight Pattern

Weak fluttering short flights on rapidly beating wings. Alternates pulling wings to body with several quick shallow strokes.

Boreal Chickadee Breeding Male Body Illustration

● Range & Habitat: Boreal Chickadee: Breeds from northern Alaska east to Labrador and Newfoundland, south to northern edge of U.S. Occasionally wanders southward during winter. Usually found in coniferous forests.

^BreedingMonogamous, Small colonies

^PopulationFairly common

^MigrationNonmigratory

^Weight0.3 Ounces

Underparts

Belly, undertail coverts, chest, flanks, and foreneck.

Upperparts

Back, rump, hindneck, wings, and crown.

Cap

The area on top of the head of the bird.

Face

The front part of the head consisting of the bill, eyes, cheeks and chin.

4 and 6 letter alpha codes

The four letter common name alpha code is is derived from the first two letters of the common first name and the first two letters of common last name. The six letter species name alpha code is derived from the first three letters of the scientific name (genus) and the first three letters of the scientific name (species). See (1) below for the rules used to create the codes..

Four-letter (for English common names) and six-letter (for scientific names) species alpha codes were developed by Pyle and DeSante (2003, North American Bird-Bander 28:64-79) to reflect A.O.U. taxonomy and nomenclature (A.O.U. 1998) as modified by Supplements 42 (Auk 117:847-858, 2000) and 43 (Auk 119:897-906, 2002). The list has been updated by Pyle and DeSante to reflect changes reported by the A.O.U from 2003 through 2006.

Field Guide to Birds of North America