Family Tits and Chickadees (Paridae)
Least Concern
Carolina Chickadee (Poecile carolinensis)
Taxonomy
French: Mésange de Caroline German: Carolinameise Spanish: Carbonero de Carolina
Taxonomy:
Parus carolinensis
Audubon
, 1834,Charleston, South Carolina, USA
.
Subspecies and Distribution
P. c. atricapilloides
(Lunk, 1952) – SC USA (S Kansas, Oklahoma and N & C Texas).
P. c. agilis
(Sennett, 1888) – SE Oklahoma, SC & E Texas, SW Arkansas and W Louisiana.
P. c. extimus
(Todd & Sutton, 1936) – S Missouri E to Ohio, S Pennsylvania and New Jersey, S to NW Tennessee, NW North Carolina and E Virginia.
P. c. carolinensis
(Audubon, 1834) – N & E Arkansas, S Kentucky and Tennessee E to SE Virginia, S to E Louisiana, S Mississippi and N & C Florida.
Descriptive notes
11·5–13 cm; 9–12 g. Medium-sized, black-capped chickadee with grey-brown upperparts. Nominate race has forehead to crown (including eye area) and nape... read more
Voice
Most frequent call a high-pitched “chic-a-dee”, similar to that of P. atricapillus... read more
Habitat
Open broadleaf woods, mostly along rivers, streams and canals, also swamp-forest and secondary... read more
Food and feeding
Food mostly small invertebrates and their larvae and eggs, including moths (Lepidoptera), bugs (Hemiptera), bees, wasps and ants (... read more
Breeding
Season mid-Feb to early Jun; one brood. Monogamous, with lifelong pair-bond. Territorial, but some nests close together (c. 8 m apart);... read more
Movements
Resident. Little movement, but singles recorded C Kansas, and vagrant in S Texas, Nebraska,... read more
Status and conservation
Not globally threatened. Common throughout range. Some reduction in numbers recorded in N Florida.
See P. atricapillus. Geographical variation clinal, with decrease in size and reduction in extent of pale edges of flight-feathers N to S, also paler from E to W; races intergrade widely in overlap areas. Mitochondrial DNA evidence indicates that E & W populations (which meet approximately along Mississippi–Alabama state lines) separated by c. 1 million years, but level of divergence does not influence plumage or vocal characteristics. Four subspecies recognized.