This is the first of a series of occasional collections of a few interesting facts about some of our smallest feathered cohabitants that I encounter in the wild. I’ll eventually get to some of the flashy tiny birds, but it’s only right that I begin the series with the plain-dressed black-capped chickadee (Poecile atricapillus), who usually gets to achieve about 5 inches in length. This bird is seen by more people on Maine license plates than on branches, which is part of a little-discussed embarrassment.
The black-capped chickadee apparently was intended to be the Maine state bird when Maine legislators were choosing one in 1927. They then designated “chickadee” as our winged symbol, apparently thinking that black-caps were the only chickadees in the state. But, ahem, we also have the less common boreal chickadees. Attempts by Audubon society members and others to correct the birding faux pax have failed, apparently due to black-capped chickadees having very little political pull.
(Related interesting fact: By the time that Maine was ready to name its state tree, however, our legislators had learned their lesson. In 1946, instead of picking simply the “pine tree” to symbolize this “Pine Tree State,” they specifically named the eastern white pine tree [Pinus strobus] as the state tree to avoid confusion with the three other native pine species that we have.)
As for Maine’s intended state bird, it gets its species differentiating name, “black-capped,” from that sailor’s cap that it likes to wear pulled down low over its ears and eyes. It gets its bird group common name, “chickadee,” from its call, which sounds like a kazoo playing variations on a “chick-a-dee” theme.
The more “dees” at the end of the black-cap’s call, the more alarmed or annoyed the bird is. Five “dees” (“chick-a-dee-dee-dee-dee-dee!”) often signifies that a bird-eating hawk or a cat is in the area. (Image taken in Brooklin, Maine, on April 14, 2025.)