During the fall and winter when the Black-capped Chickadee is in fresh plumage, the forehead, crown, nape, and upper mantle are sooty black. Black-capped Chickadees are white from their cheeks to the side of their nape. A sooty black bib extends from the chin and throat to the lower sides of the cheeks and upper breast, where its demarcation is poorly defined. The breast, belly, and vent are whitish. The flanks, breast, and belly are buff, the extent of which is variable. The upperparts are olive gray with slightly darker tail and flight feathers. The inner greater coverts are broadly edged with white; they contrast sharply with the rest of the olive-gray upperparts. The outer tail feathers are broadly fringed with white. The bill, legs, and feet are dark, predominantly black.

Care must be taken when identifying Black-capped Chickadees and Carolina Chickadees in areas where their ranges overlap. This overlap occurs from southern Kansas through northern Ohio, south to the Great Smoky mountains, and north to central New Jersey. Plumage differences are slight but obvious:

• The bib is smaller and better defined in a Carolina Chickadee.
• In fresh plumage the Black-capped Chickadee has broad white edges on its inner greater coverts, whereas the greater coverts on the Carolina are uniform gray. Thus, a white patch on the wing of a Black-capped Chickadee is broader than it is on a Carolina Chickadee.
• The outer tail feathers are more broadly edged in white on a Black-capped Chickadee.
• The cinnamon-buff coloring of the underparts is less extensive in Carolina Chickadee.
• The dark lines indicate the difference in the extent of the white edges of the greater coverts in the Carolina Chickadee and the Black-capped Chickadee.