Educate Yourself About the Black-capped Chickadee and Other Chickadees
Black-capped Chickadee
The Black-capped Chickadee has a black cap and bib, white cheeks, and the edges of the wings are brighter than that of the Carolina Chickadee. Its length is 4-5in (10-12cm)
Its wingspan is 8in (20cm) Its voice is a song of clear whistles, “fe-bee-ee” or “fee-bee”, with the first call higher, and a clearly enunciated “chick-a-dee-dee-dee” or “dee-dee”. Their eggs are white spotted with reddish brown, especially at the large end with 1 clutch consisting of 6-8 or (5-10) eggs. Both male and female incubates for about 11-13 days, and fledging time is around 14-18 days. Both male and female feed their young.
The Black-capped Chickadee is one of the cutest, friendliest little bird you will ever have visiting your lovely bird feeding garden. You will definite enjoy watching these jaunty acrobats as they hang upside down pecking at cones or nabbing insects on leafs. You will also have a lot of fun training this little guy to eat from your hand, especially if you are holding a nut in your palm.
You can find the Black-capped Chickadee throughout its large range in mid-America to Alaska into Canada, were it frequents the countryside, woods, and towns. Most all of them are year-round residents, except the ones from the southern parts of their range, where they become winter birds.
When other birds leave the extreme northern parts, the chickadees will show amazing survival instincts, despite their tiny stature. Using their special adaptations they were equipped with, they are known to withstand extreme cold weather, and other harsh conditions. This is not an easy task to perform either: as northern winter days are very short, they have to do enormous amounts of feeding during the few hours of day light available to them.
The chickadees will frenetically search for food, feeding on as many seeds they can fill their bellies with. They must have a sufficient amount of calories to sustain them trough the long cold night. Choosing the right places makes a big different also, like dense shrubs, tree cavities, and other shelters are perfect for them. They huddle together in groups to conserve energy, and by dropping their body temperature, and also by fluffing their feathers. When you put all this together, you have a perfect insulation package for a tiny chickadee.
When visiting your hanging bird feeders and tables, they favor suet, and black-oil sunflower seeds. But since chickadees have very tiny bills, they will grab a seed and then fly away to a nearby perch; put the seed between their feet, and peck at the shell until the kernel is exposed.
During the day they will also cache a lot of the seeds they grab, sometimes into the hundreds, in clusters of conifer needles, under leaves, and in tree bark cracks. They have remarkable memories as well, they will not only remember where they hid the food, but also witch site has the best quality food, and witch ones they have already emptied.
The Black-capped Chickadee and his mate build their nest together, by excavating a cavity trough a knothole, removing bits of rotten wood until it is around 6-8in (15-20cm) deep. They usually will build it about 1-10ft (0.3-3.5m) above the ground, but sometimes they will find an old, abandoned woodpecker’s hole instead. The cavity is filled with plant fiber, and mosses, to make it warm and cozy for the young ones.
If you like to attract the Black-capped Chickadee, and other chickadees to your lovely bird feeding garden, fill your hanging bird feeders and bird tables with black-oil sunflower seeds, and chick scratch. Put out peanut butter, suet, and doughnuts as well.
Chickadees are drawn to gardens with trees, were they can feed on insects, insect eggs, larvae, and the tree seeds. You can plant bushes like bayberry, and winterberry, too.
