Chickadee Line-up

BirdNote^®  

Chickadee Line-up

Written by Bob Sundstrom

This is BirdNote.

[Black-capped Chickadee “chick-a-dee-dee” calls]

The image of this dapper Black-capped Chickadee frequently adorns holiday cards and bags of birdseed. But the Black-capped is only one of seven species of chickadees found in North America. 

[Black-capped Chickadee “chick-a-dee-dee” call]

All have bold black-and-white patterns on their faces, and each calls “chick-a-dee” with its own regional accent. While you’ll find the Black-capped Chickadee across the northern U.S. into Canada, its close cousin, the Carolina Chickadee, [Carolina Chickadee song and call] holds sway in the Southeast. 

Hike among conifers in the Rockies, and you’ll be greeted by the husky voice of a Mountain Chickadee [Mountain Chickadee call]. Or listen in the dense spruce forests of Canada for the call of the Boreal Chickadee [Boreal Chickadee call]. 

A chickadee of resplendent brown, the Chestnut-backed Chickadee, calls the Pacific Northwest home [Chestnut-backed Chickadee call]. The Mexican Chickadee just nudges into the mountains of southeast Arizona [Mexican Chickadee call] and the Gray-headed Chickadee [Gray-headed Chickadee call] turns up in the extreme northwest corner of the continent, north of the Arctic Circle. 

No matter which chickadee you find, take a moment to enjoy one of nature’s most delightful creatures.

[Black-capped Chickadee “chick-a-dee-dee” call]

Hear the calls of all seven again, on our website, birdnote.org. I’m Mary McCann.

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Bird calls provided by The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. Black-capped Chickadee recorded by G.A. Keller; Carolina Chickadee (song and call) by W.L. Hershberger 84819; Mountain Chickadee by R.S. Little; Boreal Chickadee by G.Vyn; Chestnut-backed Chickadee by G.A. Keller; Mexican Chickadee 40593 by G.A. Keller; and Gray-headed Chickadee  by G. Vyn.
Producer: John Kessler
Executive Producer: Chris Peterson
© 2015 Tune In to Nature.org       February 2017/2021  August 2023

Narrator: Mary McCann

ID# chickadee-01b-2011-02-23    chickadee-01b