Black-capped Chickadee
Black-capped Chickadee has increased: up 37% on the route-weighted index since 1968.
About the Black-capped Chickadee
A tiny, acrobatic black-capped songbird of northern woods and feeders, the Black-capped Chickadee is a bold, curious year-round resident famous for its namesake call.
- Size
- 4.5–6 in long, about 0.4 oz (12–15 cm, 11 g)
- Habitat
- Woodlands and forest edges, including wooded suburbs and parks.
- Diet
- Insects, spiders and their eggs, plus seeds and berries; caches food.
- Range
- Recorded on 1,863 Breeding Bird Survey routes across 38 states, most concentrated in the Appalachian Mountains.
- Family
- Paridae · Forest birds
- Conservation
- Least Concern
Notable Black-capped Chickadee TrendsNotable signalsLong-arc shifts the engine flags automatically — sustained declines or increases large enough to stand out from year-to-year noise.Full methodology →
No notable trend signals for Black-capped Chickadee. See the full index history below.
Black-capped Chickadee Population Forecast
If the recent trend holds, Black-capped Chickadee is projected to rise about 23% by 2029 — from 2.4 in 2024 to a central estimate of 3.0 (95% range 2.1–3.8). A 5-year backtest shows a typical error of ±29.8%, with 100% of held-out values landing inside the 95% band.
Where the Black-capped Chickadee Is Detected
BBS routes recording Black-capped Chickadee, sized by most recent count.
Black-capped Chickadee Population Trend by State
Black-capped Chickadee Population Trend by Region
Bird Conservation Regions are the ecological unit for trends.
Black-capped Chickadee Conservation Status
Least Concern
The IUCN Red List rates this species as Least Concern. Our route-weighted index shows it up about 37% since 1968.
Source: USGS North American Breeding Bird Survey, retrieved 2026-05-22. Trend is a route-weighted relative-abundance index, not an absolute population.