Grey-headed Chickadee

How to recognise it

• Dark greyish-brown cap, not black except closest to the eye and bill
• White cheeks and a black chin
• Warm brown back, rusty brown flanks and pale grey belly
• White edges to tail and wing feathers give wings and tail a paler grey tone

Call and song

The song is partly a buzzing "tji-yrr tji-yrr tji-yrr", partly a Marsh Tit-like "tje-tje-tje-tje". The call, "zi-zi täh täh täh täh", resembles a Willow Tit's, but the notes are less drawn out and stressed. It also gives a drawn-out "dih" repeated four to five times.

Where and when

The Grey-headed Chickadee is resident in Sweden. It occurs from north-western Dalarna to central Härjedalen, and from Hotagen and Strömsund in northern Jämtland northwards. The Swedish population is estimated at 34 000 to 78 000 pairs. Its share of all bird reports is highest in Norrbotten, and it is reported most from November to February. It is Near Threatened (NT) on the 2025 Swedish Red List.

Food and behaviour

It feeds mainly on invertebrates, plus seeds and fat, in autumn and winter especially oily conifer seeds. In its breeding territory it stores food in twig tips, branch forks, needle bases and under bark flakes. It rarely forages on the ground. In winter it sometimes joins mixed foraging flocks and roosts in holes. Most are resident, though young birds can wander in large numbers in some years.