The Petersons Field Guide "Western Birds" CD set has
the musical notes of Black-capped (and other)
Chickadees. Our BCCH's have a three-note version and
we usually here it in the spring around time for pairing
up, so I always assumed that was their breeding "song,"
and that the "chick-a-dee-dee-dee" and variants of
that were either contact calls or warning calls. I notice
when I go out on the deck while chickadees are in the
yard, the number and forcefulness of "dees" goes up.

They can do a lot with just their "chick" note too. When
I was first learning bird songs, chickadees messed
with my mind a lot.

Chris Maack
Anchorage, AK
CMaack at compuserve.com