There is only one chickadee that can be spotted in Alabama. This guide will help you identify them with photo IDs and descriptions, audio recordings of their songs and fun facts plus more.
Chickadees are busy little songbirds that flit around looking for insects, and they will readily come to backyard feeders. They are part of the Poecile family of birds, and there are only seven species of chickadee, all of which live in North America.
Only Carolina Chickadees can be spotted in Alabama, and they stay here all year and do not migrate.
Chickadees do not migrate, but they may travel to lower ground in winter. To survive the cold winter months, studies have shown that Chickadees cache food, roost in cavities, and go into a state of regulated nocturnal hypothermia to save energy.
Chickadees have an insatiable appetite due to their high body temperature and need to consume their own body weight in food each day!
Chickadees do not usually live very long, in fact, only about two or three years, and they may only live for one year as an adult and only have one breeding season. However, here have been chickadees recorded as living for twelve years.
Male and female chickadees look the same, so it can be difficult to tell them apart. Only the male sings the louder ‘Fee Bee’ song. Learn more about their songs and calls at the end of the article.
Chickadees eat insects and seeds, and they will often come to backyard feeders for seeds or suet. Find out the other types of backyard birds that regularly visit Alabama and print a free ID chart.
This guide will help you identify the types of Chickadees spotted in Alabama according to avibase and uses data collected from bird watchers on ebird to give real information about when these birds can be spotted.
One Type Of Chickadee In Alabama:
1. Carolina Chickadee
Carolina Chickadees can be spotted all year in Alabama, but they appear in more checklists in winter from September to March. They appear in 31% of summer checklists and 43% of winter checklists.
Carolina Chickadees are tiny birds with large heads, black caps and throats, white cheeks and bellies, and soft gray backs, wings, and tails.
They look very similar to the Black-capped Chickadee, and they interbreed where their range overlaps, but their range does not overlap in many places. Also, Black-capped Chickadees have more white in their wings than Carolina Chickadees.
- Poecile carolinensis
- Length: 3.9-4.7 in (10-12 cm)
- Weight: 0.3-0.4 oz (8-12 g)
- Wingspan: 5.9-7.9 in (15-20 cm)
Carolina Chickadees live in eastern and southeastern US states all year.
You can find Carolina Chickadees in forested areas, parks, and backyards. In summer, they mainly eat insects and spiders, but in winter, about half of their diet is plant material.
Carolina Chickadee Song:
Nests of Carolina Chickadees are in holes they have made themselves or those originally made by other species or natural cavities. They line the hole with moss and then softer material such as hair. They lay up to ten eggs which take about two weeks to hatch and a further two to three weeks for the young to leave the nest.
Attract Carolina Chickadees to your backyard feeders with black oil sunflower seeds, nyjer seeds, suet feeders, or peanuts. They will feed on most types of feeders, including tube feeders, suet cages, or platform feeders. They will also nest in nest boxes or nest tubes.
Attract Chickadees To Your Backyard
Chickadees are a delight to watch with their constant hurrying to get enough food to eat. So if you want to watch more of these cute little birds, then you need to attract them to your yard.
- Supply feeders with black oil sunflower seeds, nyjer seeds, suet, or peanuts
- They will feed on most types of feeders, including tube feeders, suet cages, or platform feeders
- Provide a water source such as a birdbath, preferably with running water
- Plant berry-producing trees and shrubs that attract insects
- Don’t use pesticides or herbicides as Chickadees eat insects
- Provide shelter with trees and shrubs
- Provide a nest box with a small hole of 1 1/8 inch and raise 5 – 15 feet above ground
- Keep cats indoors
- Be patient as it can take a while for birds to find your yard and feeders
Chickadee Songs and Calls
Chickadees are famous for the namesake chick a dee call, but this call is, in fact, a mild alarm call or contact call, and their song is actually a ‘fee bee’ sound.
Chickadee Sounds:
1. Fee-bee
- It is produced by males
- The first note is higher pitched than the second
- Males move away from other males when they sing
2. Faint Fee-bee
- Produced by both males and females
- Females use this to call the male to feed her when she is incubating
- Used between parents and young
3. Chick-a-dee call
- Mild alarm call
- Contact calls in flocks
- Coordinate movements in flocks
4. Gargle
- Series of two to nine short notes
- Used when birds get too close in flocks or at feeders
- It is a warning call before the chickadee may attack another to make them move further away
5. Begging Call
- Young chickadees make bee calls to get their parents to feed them
5. High Seet Call
Alarm Call when predators are around
