A worldwide community photographing and learning about wildlife
Project Noah Nature School
Poecile carolinensis
Adults are 11.5–13 cm long with a weight of 9–12 g, and have a black cap and bib with white sides to the face. Their underparts are white with rusty brown on the flanks; their back is grey. They have a short dark bill, short wings and a moderately long tail. Carolina chickadees are able to lower their body temperatures to induce an intentional state of hypothermia called torpor. They do this to conserve energy during extremely cold winters. In extremely cold weather conditions they look for cavities where they can hide in and spend up to fifteen hours at a time in torpor; during this time they are awake but unresponsive; they should not be picked up and handled at this time, as the stress of being held may cause their death. They nest in a hole in a tree; the pair excavates the nest, using a natural cavity or sometimes an old woodpecker nest. Or they take over bluebird boxes, as happened to three of mine this year, including this quite old one (which needs repair)!
Their breeding habitat is mixed or deciduous woods in the United States from New Jersey west to southern Kansas and south to Florida and Texas; there is a gap in the range at high altitudes in the Appalachian Mountains where they are replaced by their otherwise more northern relative, the Black-capped Chickadee.
Spotted on Apr 14, 2012
Submitted on Apr 15, 2012
3 Comments
So cute
They aren't blue but do seem to have a blue tinge in the photo. They are actually off-white with a bit of brown on the end.
How cool! I didn't know their eggs were blue also? Good information!