Boreal Chickadee

Boreal Chickadee

Poecile hudsonicus

Silhouette: Andy Wilson · PhyloPic

LCLeast ConcernNTVUENCR
Daily sighting probability ~10% · With luck
at Glacier National Park

In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%

190 Verified sightings at Glacier National Park From 2019 to 2026
4,129 In all 14 parks
September Best month
☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted

About the Boreal Chickadee

The boreal chickadee (Poecile hudsonicus) is a small passerine songbird in the tit family Paridae. It is found in the boreal forests of Alaska, Canada and the northern United States and remains within this range all year. This bird is known for its high pitched trill patterns used in communication with other birds and food storage habits in preparation for winter months.

Adults are 12.5–14.5 cm (4.9–5.7 in) long with a weight of 7–12.4 g (0.25–0.44 oz). They have grey-brown upperparts with a brown cap and greyish wings and tail; their face is mainly grey with white on the sides. Their underparts are white with brown on the flanks and a black throat. They have a short dark bill, short wings and a long notched tail. Their flight consists of brief gliding patterns followed by fast and bouncy wing beats as they travel through the air.

The call is a husky tsee-day-day, as well as a high pitched trill sound, dididididididi a variant on the call which gives chickadees their name. This call is composed of five distinct note-type categories consisting of A, B, C, D and D-hybrid with the beginning and end note both displaying a high frequency pitch... Wikipedia →

Sounds

Call1:05

United States · 2021

© Jorge de Leon Cardozo & Susan Hochgraf · XC691193 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Song0:42

United States · 2021

© Christopher McPherson · XC691175 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Call0:27

United States · 2015

© Frank Lambert · XC356193 · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Denali National Park 🇺🇸 United States
~50%
2 Wrangell-St. Elias National Park 🇺🇸 United States
~50%
3 Kluane National Park 🇨🇦 Canada
~50%
4 Riding Mountain National Park 🇨🇦 Canada
~40%
5 Banff National Park 🇨🇦 Canada
~30%
6 Gros Morne National Park 🇨🇦 Canada
~30%
7 Cape Breton Highlands National Park 🇨🇦 Canada
~30%
8 Katmai National Park 🇺🇸 United States
~30%
9 Jasper National Park 🇨🇦 Canada
~20%
10 Wood Buffalo National Park 🇨🇦 Canada
~20%
11 Glacier National Park 🇺🇸 United States
~10%
12 Elk Island National Park 🇨🇦 Canada
<5%
13 Voyageurs National Park 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
14 Kenai Fjords National Park 🇺🇸 United States
<5%

Cities Where Found

# City Country Daily sighting probability
1 Anchorage 🇺🇸 United States
~10%
2 Calgary 🇨🇦 Canada
<5%
3 Edmonton 🇨🇦 Canada
<5%

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing a Boreal Chickadee in Glacier National Park?

With luck

About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Boreal Chickadee sighting in Glacier National Park on a given day, based on 190 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 88th most-seen of the 174 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 40%, if each day is a fresh chance.

When is the best time to see a Boreal Chickadee in Glacier National Park?

September

In that month about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Boreal Chickadee in Glacier National Park on a given day, against under 5% in March–June and November–January, the lowest months.

What time of day is best to see a Boreal Chickadee?

Between 10 am and 1 pm

Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Boreal Chickadee sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.

Which relatives of the Boreal Chickadee live in Glacier National Park?

Same genus: Poecile

The closest relatives of the Boreal Chickadee that you can see in Glacier National Park (genus Poecile, Chickadees and Allies) are Mountain Chickadee (about 40%), Black-capped Chickadee (about 30%) and Chestnut-backed Chickadee (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.

Where does the Boreal Chickadee sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Boreal Chickadee is recorded against all the birds logged in Glacier National Park (190 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.

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