Food: The diet of the black-capped chickadee is comprised of 70 percent animal and 30 percent vegetable matter. Mast, chiefly from coniferous trees, and fruits of bayberry, blackberry, blueberry, and poison ivy make up the bulk of the vegetable matter. Animal material eaten (mostly insects) includes caterpillars, eggs, moths, spiders, and beetles. Winter diet is primarily larvae, eggs, katydids, and spiders (Bent 1946, Martin et al. 1951).
Carolina chickadee
Parus carolinensis
L 4¼″
Habitat: The Carolina chickadee, which inhabits the southeastern forests, is a slightly smaller version of the black-capped chickadee. In Missouri, the Carolina chickadee nests south of the Missouri River throughout the Ozarks.
Nest: The nesting habits of the black-capped and Carolina chickadees are quite similar. They occasionally nest in natural cavities or deserted holes of woodpeckers, but commonly excavate their own nest cavity in decaying wood of dead trunks or limbs of deciduous trees (Bent 1946). Black-capped and Carolina chickadees line their nesting cavities with fine grasses and feathers.
Food: Food habits of the Carolina chickadee are also very similar to those of the black-capped chickadee. Food consists of insects and a variety of fleshy fruits and seeds (Bent 1946).
Mexican chickadee
Parus sclateri