chickadee

{{short description|Group of North American songbirds}}

{{Other uses}}

{{Distinguish|Chickaree}}

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| image1 = Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Poecile rufescens II.jpg

| alt1 = Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Poecile rufescens

| link1 = Chestnut-backed Chickadee

| image2 = Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus) (20325091656).jpg

| alt2 = Black-capped Chickadee, Poecile atricapillus

| link2 = Black-capped Chickadee

| footer = Two species of chickadees

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The chickadees are a group of North American birds in the family Paridae included in the genus Poecile. Species found in North America are referred to as chickadees; species found elsewhere in the world are called tits.{{Cite web |last=Heisman |first=Rebecca |date=January 4, 2022 |title=Beloved Backyard Bandits: An Introduction to Chickadees |url=https://abcbirds.org/blog/chickadees/ |access-date=March 27, 2023 |website=American Bird Conservancy}}{{Cite web |title=Tit |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tit |access-date=March 27, 2023 |website=Merriam-Webster}} They are small-sized birds overall, usually having the crown of the head and throat patch distinctly darker than the body. They are at least 6 to 14 centimeters (2.4 to 5.5 inches) in size.

Their name reputedly comes from the fact that their calls make a distinctive "chick-a-dee-dee-dee", though their normal call is "fee-bee", and the "chick-a-dee-dee-dee" call is an alarm call. The number of "dees" depends on the predator.[https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn7570-chirpy-chickadees-signal-deadliness-of-predators/ "Chirpy chickadees signal deadliness of predators"]. New Scientist. 23 June 2005. Retrieved 6 March 2019.

The chickadee (specifically the black-capped chickadee Poecile atricapillus, formerly Parus atricapillus) is the official bird for the US state of Massachusetts,[https://www.sec.state.ma.us/cis/cismaf/mf1a.htm Massachusetts Facts] Secretary of the Commonwealth. Retrieved 6 March 2019. the Canadian province of New Brunswick,{{Cite web |last=Government of New Brunswick |first=Canada |date=2020-06-17 |title=NB Symbols |url=https://www2.gnb.ca/content/gnb/en/gateways/about_nb/symbols.html |access-date=2022-08-17 |website=www2.gnb.ca |language=en}} as well as the cities of Calgary, Alberta,{{Cite web |last=Villani |first=Mark |title=Tweet it out! Calgary names official bird |url=https://calgary.ctvnews.ca/tweet-it-out-calgary-names-official-bird-1.5903580 |access-date=2022-05-18 |website=ctvnews |date=14 May 2022 |language=en}} and Regina, Saskatchewan.{{|title=Regina's Official Bird! |url=https://beheard.regina.ca/bird-city-regina/news_feed/regina-s-official-bird-2 |access-date=2025-03-08 |website=beheard.regina.ca |language=en}} The chickadee is also the state bird of Maine, but a species has never been specified. A proposed bill in 2019 would have named the black-capped chickadee as the official species for Maine, but was unanimously voted down in committee.{{Cite web |date=2019-03-06 |title=Maine lawmakers end the flap over Maine's state bird |url=https://www.pressherald.com/2019/03/06/chickadee-dee-dee-maine-will-not-get-a-new-state-bird/ |access-date=2024-04-11 |website=Press Herald}}{{Cite web |last=WGME |date=2019-03-07 |title=Lawmakers kill bill over Maine's state bird |url=https://wgme.com/news/local/lawmakers-kill-bill-over-maines-state-bird |access-date=2024-04-11 |website=WGME |language=en}} The de facto species for Maine remains the black-capped.

One holarctic species is referred to by a different name in each part of its range: grey-headed chickadee in North America and Siberian tit in Eurasia.