|
Carolina Chickadee |
|
Parus carolinensis |
| Description: 4-5" similar to more northern Black-capped Chickadee, but feathers of folded wing usually show less white edging; lower edge of black bib more sharply defined than in Black-capped, best identified by voice and range | Habitat: Mixed deciduous-coniferous forests, woodland edges, swampy areas, clearings, fields, thickets, orchards, suburbs, valleys, foothills. Where ranges overlap, found at lower elevations than Black-capped Chickadee. Prefers woods more than Black-capped. |
| Nesting: 6-8 white eggs lightly speckled with brown placed in a cavity in a rotten scrub or nest box, lined with feathers, grass and plant down | Range: resident from southeastern Kansas and New Jersey south to Texas Gulf Coast |
| Voice: A buzzy chickadee -dee-dee, higher pitched and faster than that of the Black-capped Chickadee, song has 4 whistled notes, see-dee, see-dee, with downward inflection, rather than the 2 or 3 note BC Chickadee song | Diet:
insects, seeds, fruit, including spiders and their eggs; seeds. |
| Notes: love to visit feeders, tame, often seen with Tufted Titmice and Downey Woodpeckers responds to pishing |
| When present in Oklahoma: abundant year-round statewide, numbers considerably higher in winter months |