We compared recordings of the ‘gargle’ vocalization of Black-capped Chickadees (Poecile atricapillus) made in the field to recordings made in the laboratory of captive birds from the same populations. Individuals have repertoires of gargle calls, some of which are shared with conspecifics. Thus, a population sample of recordings reveals a variety of distinct gargle calls constituting the population repertoire. Captive birds were individually stimulated to vocalize by viewing their own image in a mirror. In the field, gargle calls were recorded during natural social interactions. We questioned whether the field recordings might reveal a greater variety of gargle calls than we found in the laboratory samples. We found that none of 901 field recorded gargle calls differed from those recorded from captive birds.