Boreal Chickadee
|
|
| Boreal Chickadee | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Missing image BorealChickadee23.jpg Photo: Chickadee | ||||||||||||||
| Scientific classification | ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
| Binomial name | ||||||||||||||
| Parus hudsonicus Template:Taxobox authority new |
The Boreal Chickadee, Parus hudsonicus or Poecile hudsonica, is a small songbird.
Adults have grey-brown uppperparts with a brown cap and greyish wings and tail; their face is mainly grey with white on the sides. Their underparts are white with brown on the flanks and a black throat. They have a short dark bill, short wings and a long notched tail.
Their breeding habitat is coniferous woods in Canada, Alaska and the northern edges of the United States. They nest in a hole in a tree; the pair excavates the nest, using a natural cavity or sometimes an old woodpecker nest. The pair remain together year round and may mate for life.
They are permanent residents, but sometimes move south in winter. They often forage with small flocks including other small birds in winter.
These birds forage on conifer branches or probe into the bark. They mainly eat insects and seeds. They will store food for later use.
The call is a husky tsik-a-dee-dee, a variant on the call which gives chickadees their name.
Taxonomic note: Most authorities retain Poecile as a subgenus within a broader view of the genus Parus, but the American Ornithologists' Union treats Poecile as a distinct genus.