The male and the female look a lot alike! Their back is gray-green and the chest is white. The flanks are buff. The crown and the throat are black whereas the cheeks are white. The chickadee measures 12 to 15 centimeters, has a wingspan of 20 cm and weighs 10 grams, the average weight of a strawberry! It lives an average of 12 years in captivity.

The chickadee is mainly insectivorous, it eats among other things eggs and larvae of insects and stores food for winter. They are often seen at feeders, especially in winter, where it eats seeds. It is a partially migratory bird, it often stays on its territory all year round. Chickadees can lower their body temperature 10°C under their daytime temperature during winter nights in order to conserve energy.