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Basic Appearance

• About the same size as a black-capped chickadee, but slightly shaggier-looking.
• Has a brown cap, which is the easiest way to tell it apart.
• Black throat patch, white cheeks, and a soft brownish-gray body.
• Tiny, round, and very cute.

Where They Live

• Found in the boreal forest of Canada and Alaska.
• They love spruce, fir, and pine forests—the really quiet, cold, thick woods.

What They Eat

• Mostly insects, spiders, and larvae during summer.
• In winter: seeds and fat-rich food they cached (stored) earlier.
• They hide food in bark, cracks, and branches, then remember where it is—even months later.

Behavior

• Quiet and shy compared to other chickadees.
• Usually stays high in conifers and moves in little flocks.
• Makes a low, hoarse call that sounds like “chick-a-dee-dee” but raspier than the black-capped chickadee.

Winter Survival

• Super tough. They:
  • Grow extra feathers
  • Fluff up to trap heat
  • Cache huge amounts of food
  • Sometimes enter a mild overnight torpor (lowered body temperature) to save energy

Nesting

• They dig their own cavity in rotten wood or a soft snag.
• Line it with fur, moss, feathers.
• Lay around 5–9 eggs.