Black-capped chickadee
Poecile atricapillus
 
ITIS Species Code:   554382         NatureServ Element Code:   ABPAW01010
 
Taxa: 
Order: 
Family: 
Aves
Passeriformes
Paridae
NatureServe Global Rank: 
NatureServe State (NC) Rank: 
 
G5
S3
 
Federal Status: 
NC State Status: 
 
---
SC
 
 
PARTNERS IN FLIGHT PRIORITY SCORES:
Southern Blue Ridge:  13 Southern Piedmont:  13 South Atl. Coastal Plain:  n/a
 
HEXAGONAL KNOWN RANGE:PREDICTED DISTRIBUTION:
 
SUMMARY OF STATEWIDE PREDICTED DISTRIBUTION:
 
Land Unit
US Fish & Wildlife Service
US Forest Service
US National Park Service
US Department of Defense
NC State Parks
NC University System
NC Wildlife Res. Com.
NC Forest Service
NC Div. of Coastal Mgmt.
Local Governments
Non-Governmental Org.
Other Public Lands
Private Lands
GAP Status 1-2
All Protected Lands
Statewide
 
Hectares
0.00
4,352.58
0.00
10,340.55
0.00
0.00
9.72
0.00
0.00
117.72
37.80
0.00
2,715.75
12,240.81
14,850.45
17,574.12
 
Acres
0.00
10,755.46
0.00
25,552.05
0.00
0.00
24.02
0.00
0.00
290.89
93.41
0.00
6,710.76
30,247.69
36,696.25
43,426.59
% of Dist. on
Prot. Lands
0.0 %
29.3 %
0.0 %
69.6 %
0.0 %
0.0 %
< 0.1 %
0.0 %
0.0 %
0.2 %
0.2 %
0.0 %
0.0 %
82.4 %
-----   
-----   
% of Dist. on
All Lands
0.0 %
24.8 %
0.0 %
58.8 %
0.0 %
0.0 %
< 0.1 %
0.0 %
0.0 %
0.7 %
0.2 %
0.0 %
15.5 %
69.7 %
-----   
-----   
 
HABITAT DESCRIPTION:
Found within the spruce-fir and northern hardwood forests in the higher elevations of mountains in NC (Hamel 1992, Simpson 1992).

Breeds in high elevation habitats, i.e. spruce-fir and northern hardwoods (Simpson 1992). Rather mature stands are preferred, as dead trees and stubs are more prevalent for nesting (Hamel 1992). Kaufman (1996) list the Black-capped chickadee is 'most common in open woods and forest edge,' and goes on to state it 'avoids purely coniferous forests.'

Nests are generally excavated in dead trees, 5 to 60 above the ground (Potter et al 1980). Old woodpecker holes are used occasionally (Kaufman 1996). Material placed in the cavity for the nest include: soft plant fibers, hair, wool, feathers, moss, fur, cottony fibers, and insect cocoons (Potter et al 1980). Kaufman (1996) describes foraging behavior as 'hopping among the twigs and branches and gleaning food from surface, often hanging upside down to reach underside of branches.' Typically insects and small invertebrates make up their summer diet (Hamel 1992).

NATURE SERVE GLOBAL HABITAT COMMENTS:

Deciduous and mixed forest and woodland, tall thickets, open woodland and parks. See Schroeder (1990) for tests of a habitat suitability model.

Nests in cavity dug by both sexes in tree, in natural cavity, old woodpecker hole, in bird box, or artificial snag (Grubb and Bronson 1995, Condor 97:1067- 1070).

NATURE SERVE STATE HABITAT COMMENTS:

Breeds primarily in mature spruce-fir forests. In the Smokies it is widespread in mixed forests above 4500 feet and breeds in hardwood forests above 4000 feet. Outside the Smokies, it is almost entirely limited to spruce-fir above 5000 ft.

 
MODELING DESCRIPTION:
Occupied Landcover Map Units:
Code NameDescription NC Natural Heritage Program Equivalent
521 Spruce/Fir Forest High Elevation Frazer-Fir - Red Spruce, Red Spruce and Red-Spruce-Yellow Birch Forests. Tree densities included here include both woodland to forest density. Highly intermixed with Northern Hardwoods, Grassy Balds, and Shrub Balds. Red Spruce--Fraser Fir Forest, Fraser Fir Forest
522 Northern Hardwoods High Elevation forests including yellow birch, American beech, and yellow buckeye. Includes forests with Hemlock and Yellow Birch. Northern Hardwoods Forest, Boulderfield Forest
View Entire Landcover Legend
 
Additional Spatial Constraints:
Exclude all area outside of known range.
Limited to elevation range: greater than 4500 ft.
 
CITATIONS:
Hamel, P. B. 1992. The land manager's guide to the birds of the south. The Nature Conservancy, Chapel Hill, North Carolina. 367 pp + several appendices.

Simpson MB Jr. 1992. Birds of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Chapel Hill and London: University of North Carolina Press.

Kaufman K. 1996. Lives of North American Birds. Boston, New York: Houghton Mifflin Company.

Potter, E. F., J. F. Parnell, and R. P. Teulings. 1980. Birds of the Carolinas. Univ. North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill. 408 pp.

Schroeder, R. L. 1990. Tests of a habitat suitability model for black-capped chickadees. U.S. Fish and Wildl. Serv. Biol. Rep. 90(10). 8 pp.
10 March 2005
 
This data was compiled and/or developed by the North Carolina GAP Analysis Project.

For more information please contact them at:
NC-GAP Analysis Project
Dept. of Zoology, NCSU
Campus Box 7617
Raleigh, NC 27695-7617
(919) 513-2853
www.basic.ncsu.edu/ncgap