chickadee

American  

[chik-uh-dee] / ˈtʃɪk əˌdi /

noun

1. any of several North American birds of the genus Parus, of the titmouse family, especially P. atricapillus black-capped chickadee, having the throat and top of the head black.

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chickadee British  

/ ˈtʃɪkəˌdiː /

noun

1. any of various small North American songbirds of the genus Parus, such as P. atricapillus ( black-capped chickadee ), typically having grey-and-black plumage: family Paridae (titmice)

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Etymology

Origin of chickadee

First recorded in 1820–30; imitative

Compare meaning

How does chickadee compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• nuthatch vs. chickadee

Explanation

Chickadees are small, North American songbirds. These tiny, plump birds are mostly gray and tan, with white cheeks, a dark cap, and a black bib under the chin. There are several species of chickadees, including black-capped chickadees and mountain chickadees. These bold, curious songbirds have a complex series of calls. In fact, the name chickadee is imitative of a sound they make when warning each other about predators. The more dee sounds chickadees make when they call chicka-dee-dee-dee, the bigger the perceived threat. Chickadees are masters of memory: A single chickadee hides away up to 80,000 seeds for the winter and can remember where it stashed every one.

Example Sentences

Using blood samples, the team at CU Boulder also sequenced the entire genome of 162 tagged chickadees, creating the largest dataset ever collected for evaluating the genetic basis of chickadee cognitive ability.

From Science Daily • Apr. 17, 2024

Many plates featuring the chickadee, a design introduced in 1999, are now peeling and delaminating, and in need of replacement.

From Seattle Times • Feb. 26, 2024

Limited resources lead to smaller chickadee offspring that are less likely to survive high in the mountains.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 20, 2023

If we can forgive a fox for telling a lie, what about a chickadee for breaking and entering?

From New York Times • Jul. 15, 2022

“Oh, you’re right, Aurora. A bird just flew by. One of those little chickadee birds.”

From "The Benefits of Being an Octopus" by Ann Braden