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 Trends
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.
| Year | Projected index | 95% low | 95% high |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 2.9 | 2.1 | 3.8 |
| 2026 | 2.9 | 2.1 | 3.8 |
| 2027 | 2.9 | 2.1 | 3.8 |
| 2028 | 2.9 | 2.1 | 3.8 |
| 2029 | 3.0 | 2.1 | 3.8 |
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
| Alaska | -58% | 1973 | 87 |
| California | +119% | 1981 | 10 |
| Colorado | +84% | 1972 | 99 |
| Connecticut | +36% | 1968 | 20 |
| Idaho | -5% | 1971 | 46 |
| Illinois | +28% | 1968 | 77 |
| Indiana | +56% | 1972 | 17 |
| Iowa | -41% | 1969 | 38 |
| Kansas | +36% | 1969 | 52 |
| Maine | +106% | 1968 | 78 |
| Maryland | 12× | 1968 | 15 |
| Massachusetts | +50% | 1968 | 32 |
| Michigan | +205% | 1968 | 108 |
| Minnesota | +367% | 1969 | 91 |
| Missouri | -5% | 1969 | 53 |
| Montana | +72% | 1970 | 76 |
| Nebraska | -22% | 1969 | 56 |
| Nevada | insufficient data | n/a | 1 |
| New Hampshire | +53% | 1968 | 26 |
| New Jersey | +184% | 1968 | 14 |
| New Mexico | -54% | 1992 | 10 |
| New York | +143% | 1968 | 129 |
| North Carolina | +26% | 2006 | 3 |
| North Dakota | -13% | 1970 | 42 |
| Ohio | +27% | 1968 | 27 |
| Oklahoma | insufficient data | n/a | 1 |
| Oregon | -42% | 1970 | 91 |
| Pennsylvania | +158% | 1968 | 124 |
| Rhode Island | +82% | 1968 | 7 |
| South Dakota | +12% | 1969 | 43 |
| Tennessee | insufficient data | n/a | 2 |
| Utah | -57% | 1976 | 51 |
| Vermont | +94% | 1968 | 26 |
| Virginia | -61% | 1968 | 19 |
| Washington | -26% | 1970 | 86 |
| West Virginia | +225% | 1970 | 35 |
| Wisconsin | +223% | 1968 | 98 |
| Wyoming | -0% | 1971 | 73 |
Black-capped Chickadee Population Trend by Region
Bird Conservation Regions are the ecological unit for trends.
| BCR 2 | -26% | 1986 | 13 |
| BCR 4 | -53% | 1978 | 56 |
| Northern Pacific Rainforest | -24% | 1970 | 103 |
| Great Basin | +22% | 1970 | 89 |
| Northern Rockies | -35% | 1970 | 169 |
| Prairie Potholes | -32% | 1969 | 90 |
| Boreal Hardwood Transition | +113% | 1968 | 127 |
| Lower Great Lakes / St. Lawrence Plain | +171% | 1968 | 85 |
| Atlantic Northern Forest | +82% | 1968 | 156 |
| Southern Rockies / Colorado Plateau | +432% | 1971 | 140 |
| Badlands and Prairies | +1% | 1969 | 79 |
| Shortgrass Prairie | +161% | 1978 | 25 |
| Central Mixed Grass Prairie | -51% | 1969 | 65 |
| Eastern Tallgrass Prairie | +85% | 1968 | 190 |
| Prairie Hardwood Transition | +396% | 1968 | 159 |
| Central Hardwoods | +334% | 1977 | 11 |
| Appalachian Mountains | +133% | 1968 | 226 |
| Piedmont | +196% | 1971 | 15 |
| New England / Mid-Atlantic Coast | +68% | 1968 | 63 |
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.