State Birds
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Massachusetts Symbols
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Children's Author and Illustrator,
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Massachusetts State Bird
Black-Capped Chickadee
(Parus atricapillus)
Adopted on March 21, 1941.
The Black-Capped Chickadee, Penthestes atricapillus, was adopted as the official State Bird by the Massachusetts Legislature on March 21, 1941. It is also known as the titmouse, tomtit, and the dickybird, and it is one of the most familiar of the North American birds.
Description
- Length: 4.5 inches
- Short bill
- Black crown and throat
- White face
- Pale gray upperparts
- White edges to wing coverts
- Grayish-white underparts
- Rusty flanks
- Sexes similar
- Often found in small flocks
It is from four to five inches in size, its tail accounting for nearly half its length. The general coloring is ashy-grey, the back having a brownish tinge; the crown, nape, chin, and throat are black, and the cheeks white. It nests in a stump, tree, or fence post close to the ground, and broods twice a year. It is a cheerful bird and has a pleasing call: "Chick-adee-dee-dee".
Taxonomic Hierarchy
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| Kingdom |
Animalia -- animals |
| Phylum |
Chordata -- chordates |
| Subphylum |
Vertebrata -- vertebrates |
| Class |
Aves -- birds |
| Order |
Passeriformes -- perching birds |
| Family |
Paridae -- chickadees, titmice |
| Genus |
Parus Linnaeus, 1758 -- chickadees, titmice |
| Species |
Parus atricapillus Linnaeus, 1766 -- black-capped chickadee |
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Official State Birds
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Bird:
a. Any of the class Aves of warm-blooded, egg-laying, feathered vertebrates with forelimbs modified to form wings.
b. Such an animal hunted as game.
c. Such an animal, especially a chicken or turkey, used as food State Bird:
a. Bird selected (as by the legislature) as an emblem of a state of the United States. NOTE: Many states have more than one official bird, or have designate state birds more specifically. |
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