CreatureData

Black-capped chickadee

Poecile atricapillus (Linnaeus, 1766)

LCLeast Concernsongbirds

The black-capped chickadee (Poecile atricapillus) is a species in the family Paridae, order Passeriformes. Recorded adults weigh 10.8 g to 13 g and live up to 12.4 years. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.

Black-capped chickadee (Poecile atricapillus)
Photo: No machine-readable author provided. Mdf assumed (based on copyright claims). · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the black-capped chickadee

Weight
10.8 g – 13 gsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
12.4 yearssrc for Lifespan
Diet
Invertivoresrc for Diet
Longest recorded lifespan
12.4 years
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
forestsrc for Habitat
Egg incubation
12 dayssrc for Egg incubation
Young per litter or clutch
6.95src for Young per litter or clutch
Age at maturity
5.91 months – 8.93 monthssrc for Age at maturity
Litters or clutches a year
1src for Litters or clutches a year
Lifestyle
Perchingsrc for Lifestyle
Migration
Sedentarysrc for Migration
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
Not recorded

Where does the black-capped chickadee live?

Not recorded

What is the black-capped chickadee?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The black-capped chickadee (Poecile atricapillus) is a small, nonmigratory, North American passerine bird that lives in deciduous and mixed forests. It is a member of the Paridae family, also known as tits. It has a distinct black cap on its head, a black bib underneath, and white cheeks. It has a white belly, buff sides, and grey wings, back, and tail. The bird is well known for its vocalizations, including its fee-bee song and its chick-a-dee-dee-dee call, from which it derives its name.

The black-capped chickadee is widely distributed throughout North America, ranging from the northern United States to southern Canada and all the way up to Alaska and Yukon. It feeds primarily on insects and seeds, and is known for its ability to cache food for use during the winter. The hippocampus of the black-capped chickadee grows during the caching season, which is believed to help it better remember its cache locations. The black-capped chickadee is a social bird and forms strict dominance hierarchies within its flock. During the winter, these flocks include other bird species. It has the ability to lower its body temperature during cold winter nights, allowing it to conserve energy.

Black-capped chickadees build nests in tree cavities, with the nesting season starting in late April and lasting until late June. They lay on average 6–8 eggs, which hatch after 11–14 days. Juveniles fledge 12–16 days after hatching.

The population of black-capped chickadees is thought to be increasing, and they are considered a species of least concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). It is the state bird of both Massachusetts and Maine in the United States, and the provincial bird of New Brunswick in Canada.

From the Wikipedia article “Black-capped chickadee” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Black-capped_chickadee&oldid=1380656247), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.

Is the black-capped chickadee endangered?

The black-capped chickadee is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.

  1. LCLeast Concern
  2. NTNear Threatened
  3. VUVulnerable
  4. ENEndangered
  5. CRCritically Endangered
  6. EWExtinct in the Wild
  7. EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.

How is the black-capped chickadee classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classAves
  4. orderPasseriformes
  5. familyParidae
  6. genusPoecile
  7. SpeciesPoecile atricapillus (Linnaeus, 1766)

Synonyms Parus atricapillus, Penthestes atricapillus

Other names and names in other languages (45)
  • Black-capped titmouseEnglish
  • Black-capt titmouseEnglish
  • Northern chickadeeEnglish
  • Черноглав синигерBulgarian
  • mallerenga capnegra americanaCatalan
  • sýkora černohlaváCzech
  • Amerikansk FyrremejseDanish
  • SchwarzkopfmeiseGerman
  • nigraĉapa paruoEsperanto
  • Nigrakrona paruoEsperanto
  • Carbonero cabecinegroSpanish
  • Carbonero de capucha negraSpanish
  • ameerika põhjatihaneEstonian
  • چرخریسوی سرسیاهPersian
  • amerikanhömötiainenFinnish
  • Mésange à tête noireFrench
  • Meantán an chaipín dhuibhIrish
  • ceann-dubhScottish Gaelic
  • ירגזי שחור כיפהHebrew
  • crnogrla sjenicaCroatian
  • kanadai cinegeHungarian
  • Cincia capineraItalian
  • Cincia bigia americanaItalian
  • アメリカコガラJapanese
  • juodgalvė zylėLithuanian
  • c̓əlc̓əlkayuslut
  • melngalvas zīlīteLatvian
  • ടിറ്റ്മൗസ്Malayalam
  • Amerikaanse MatkopDutch
  • amerikameisNorwegian
  • sikora jasnoskrzydłaPolish
  • Chapim-de-cabeça-pretaPortuguese
  • chapim-de-barrete-pretoPortuguese
  • Черношапочная гаичкаRussian
  • Jikjö́’kwë’Seneca
  • sýkorka čiapočkatáSlovak
  • črnoglava sinicaSlovenian
  • Američka crnoglava senicaSerbian
  • amerikansk talltitaSwedish
  • Amerika BaştankarasıTurkish
  • гаїчка світлокрилаUkrainian
  • Bạc má mũ đenVietnamese
  • 黑枕山雀Chinese
  • 黑頂山雀Chinese
  • 黑顶山雀Chinese

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataIUCN Red List

Relatives of the black-capped chickadee

Other species in the same genus Poecile.

LC, Least Concern
Marsh tit (Poecile palustris)

Marsh tit

Poecile palustris

Paridae

LC, Least Concern
Willow tit (Poecile montanus)

Willow tit

Poecile montanus

Paridae

LC, Least Concern
Sombre tit (Poecile lugubris)

Sombre tit

Poecile lugubris

Paridae

CompareBlack-capped chickadee vs Marsh titBlack-capped chickadee vs Willow titBlack-capped chickadee vs Sombre titBlack-capped chickadee vs Grey-headed chickadee

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the black-capped chickadee?

An adult black-capped chickadee weighs 10.8 g – 13 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Is the black-capped chickadee endangered?

The black-capped chickadee is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.

How long does the black-capped chickadee live?

The black-capped chickadee has a recorded lifespan of 12.4 years.

What kind of animal is the black-capped chickadee?

The black-capped chickadee (Poecile atricapillus) belongs to the family Paridae in the order Passeriformes.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Black-capped chickadee (Poecile atricapillus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/black-capped-chickadee

MLA

“Black-capped chickadee (Poecile atricapillus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/black-capped-chickadee.

BibTeX
@misc{black_capped_chickadee_2026,
  title = {Black-capped chickadee (Poecile atricapillus)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/black-capped-chickadee},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}