Boreal Chickadee

Poecile hudsonicus

The brown-capped cousin that lives where the spruce gets thick. Stays put through Yukon winters that would break a robin.

Population: roughly 9-10 million mature individuals (Partners in Flight-style estimate; not independently re-confirmed via a fetched source this session)
Habitat: Coniferous and mixed boreal forest, especially stands of black spruce, white spruce, balsam fir, and tamarack; also muskeg and bog edges (Wikipedia/AllAboutBirds: "coniferous forests of the far north year-round")
Fun fact: The Boreal Chickadee caches large numbers of insect larvae and conifer seeds under bark and lichen each autumn, relying on spatial memory to relocate this hoard and survive the long boreal winter without migrating south.
Range: Resident year-round across the boreal forest belt of Alaska, Canada, and the northernmost United States (e.g. northern New England, Great Lakes states); does not migrate seasonally
Diet: Mainly insects and insect larvae gleaned from conifer bark and needles; also spruce and other conifer seeds, which it caches extensively for winter (per Cornell/All About Birds, caching is "mostly insect larvae as well as some spruce seeds")
Size: 0.135 m
Wingspan: 0.21 m
Lifespan: 6 years

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