![]() ![]() To add to their already well deserved appeal, here are 7 additional facts you may not know about Black-capped Chickadees:īlack-capped Chickadees will often hide or cache their food to consume at a later date. Females lay 1 egg a day, laying 6-8 eggs, and incubate them for 12-13 days. Female Black-capped Chickadees ensure the nest is nice and comfy for their offspring by creating a bed of moss, animal fur, or other soft fibers. They will also use nest boxes when they are provided. They often excavate and expand existing natural cavities, or take over old woodpecker cavities. When foraging for their own food, they will eat various insects, seeds and berries.īlack-capped Chickadees nest in cavities in dead standing trees or rotting logs. Black-capped Chickadees are among the easiest birds to attract to a feeder, eating sunflower seeds, peanuts, suet, and other offerings. Their range spans every province and territory except Nunavut, and includes the majority of the northern United States and Alaska.īlack-capped Chickadees live in a wide range of habitats from forests to suburban backyards, essentially anywhere there are trees or woody shrubs and a source of food. They are curious, energetic, and downright acrobatic!Įarning their names from both the black “cap” on their heads, and their chicka-dee-dee-dee call, Black-capped chickadees are among the most common and wide-spread bird species in Canada. They peck a hole in the shell, and then chip out and eat tiny bits of seed while expanding the hole.Black-capped Chickadees ( Poecile atricapillus) are the most easily recognizable birds we have here in The Land Between (beyond, perhaps, BlueJays), and we think you might agree they are the “cutest” birds here. At feeders they take mostly sunflower seeds, peanuts, suet, peanut butter, and mealworms. In spring, summer, and fall, insects, spiders, and other animal food make up 80-90 percent of their diet. In winter Black-capped Chickadees eat about half seeds, berries, and other plant matter, and half animal food (insects, spiders, suet, and sometimes fat and bits of meat from frozen carcasses). Flocks have many calls with specific meanings, and they may contain some of the characteristics of human language. They feed on insects and seeds, but seldom perch within several feet of one another while taking food or eating. The oldest known wild chickadee lived to be 12 years and 5 months old.Ĭhickadees are found in deciduous and mixed forests, open woods, parks, willow thickets, cottonwood groves, and disturbed areas.Ĭhickadees are active, acrobatic, curious, social birds that live in flocks, often associating with woodpeckers, nuthatches, warblers, vireos, and other small woodland species. In rotten wood, they can excavate nesting and roosting holes entirely on their own.īecause small songbirds migrating through an unfamiliar area often associate with chickadee flocks, watching and listening for chickadee flocks during spring and fall can often alert birders to the presence of interesting migrants. these individuals may have a different rank within each flock they spend time in.Įven when temperatures are far below zero, chickadees virtually always sleep in their own individual cavities. Some birds are "winter floaters" that don't belong to a single flock There is a dominance hierarchy within flocks. Most birds that associate with chickadee flocks respond to chickadee alarm calls, even when their own species doesn't have a similar alarm call. Other species that associate with chickadee flocks include nuthatches, woodpeckers, kinglets, creepers, warblers and vireos. Winter flocks with chickadees serving as the nucleus contain mated chickadee pairs and nonbreeders, but generally not the offspring of the adult pairs within that flock. The more dee notes in a chickadee-dee-dee call, the higher the threat level. Each item is placed in a different spot and the chickadee can remember thousands of hiding places.Įvery autumn Black-capped Chickadees allow brain neurons containing old information to die, replacing them with new neurons so they can adapt to changes in their social flocks and environment even with their tiny brains.Ĭhickadee calls are complex and language-like, communicating information on identity and recognition of other flocks as well as predator alarms and contact calls. The Black-Capped Chickadee hides seeds and other food items to eat later.
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