Black-capped chickadee
Amazing fact
On very cold nights, the black-capped chickadee lowers its body temperature to save energy.
Smithsonian National Zoo
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An illustration based on the real animal.
A little discovery to share.
On very cold nights, the black-capped chickadee lowers its body temperature to save energy.
THE REAL WORLD
The real Black-capped chickadee
- Scientific name
- Poecile atricapillus
- Japanese name
- アメリカコガラ
- Group
- Birds
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Paridae
- Genus
- Poecile
Where the name “Black-capped chickadee” comes from
The English name “chickadee” comes from its “chick-a-dee-dee-dee” call.
Smithsonian National ZooIt lives in deciduous woods, parks and similar places from Alaska through southern Canada to the northern United States.
It has a small, short, plump body and is easy to recognize by its black cap and bib and white cheeks.
It may carry sunflower seeds from bird feeders and stuff them into cracks in tree bark, storing food to eat later.
How the Black-capped chickadee lives
It wakes at dawn’s early light and is active during the day. It may hang upside down from branches to find food on their undersides. Outside the breeding season, it may join flocks with other bird species. At night, it sleeps in thick branches or tree cavities with its beak tucked under a wing.
Smithsonian National ZooNational Audubon SocietyUniversity of Michigan Animal Diversity WebBasic data
- Size
- Length: 12–15 cmWingspan: 15–20 cmNational Audubon Society
- Weight
- 9–14 gNational Audubon Society
- Active
- By day (diurnal)University of Michigan Animal Diversity Web
- Diet
- Mostly insects, seeds and berriesNational Audubon Society
- Range
- Alaska through southern Canada to the upper United StatesUniversity of Michigan Animal Diversity Web
Where the Black-capped chickadee has been recorded
Records: GBIF.org (CC0 and CC BY 4.0 records, retrieved 2026-11-07). Map: Natural EarthSee the records on GBIF
Watch wild animals from a distance. Do not touch or feed them, and take care of the places where they live.
Names around the world
- 日本語
- アメリカコガラ
- 简体中文
- 黑盖山雀
- 繁體中文
- 黑蓋山雀
- Español
- Carbonero cabecinegro
- Français
- Mésange à tête noire
- Deutsch
- Schwarzkopfmeise
- Português (Brasil)
- Chapim-de-cabeça-preta
- Italiano
- Cincia bigia americana
- العربية
- قرقف أسود التاج
- Bahasa Indonesia
- Gelatik-batu topi-hitam
- Tiếng Việt
- Bạc má mũ đen
- Русский
- Черношапочная гаичка
- Türkçe
- Amerika Baştankarası
Names come from Wikidata and iNaturalist records. Where a language has no recorded name, we use the scientific name.
Sources and how we check
- University of Michigan Animal Diversity Web — Parus atricapillusChecked: 2026-11-04
- National Audubon Society — Black-capped ChickadeeChecked: 2026-11-04
- Smithsonian National Zoo — Black-capped chickadeeChecked: 2026-11-06
We check each fact against its source. The illustrations simplify how the real animal looks.
The classification (class, order, family, genus) follows Wikidata records, checked against GBIF. Classifications can change as research goes on.
The basic data are the values given in each source. They vary with how the animal is measured, whether it is male or female, and whether it lives in the wild or in captivity.
This page was translated from the original Japanese with the help of AI.
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