Carolina Chickadee (Poecile carolinensis)

The Carolina Chickadee is a small passerine bird in the tit family Paridae. It is often placed in the genus ''Parus'' with most other tits, but mtDNA cytochrome ''b'' sequence data and morphology suggest that separating ''Poecile'' more adequately expresses these birds' relationships . The American Ornithologists' Union has been treating ''Poecile'' as distinct genus for some time already.