Migration season is here in some parts of the country and an array of unique birds and warblers will be flying into your area. But that doesn’t mean you should forget about those birds that have been around all year. Yes, I’m taking about chickadees.
Chickadees are surprisingly interesting birds that many people take for granted. Here are 10 reasons why you shouldn’t.
1. There are seven chickadee species that breed in North America, all of which have the distinctive dark cap and bin with white cheeks. However, Black-capped Chickadees, Carolina Chickadees and Mountain Chickadees are the most common.
2. These small birds can live a relatively long life. The oldest banded Black-capped Chickadee in the wild lived 12 years and 5 month while the oldest banded Carolina Chickadee in the wild lived 10 years and 11 months.
3. The Black-capped Chickadee is the state bird of Maine and Massachusetts.
4. Chickadees are named after their distinctive call. Click here to listen to a Black-capped Chickadee’s call.
5. If you’ve ever listened to a chickadee’s call very closely, you’ll notice that sometimes there is only one dee at the end of the chick-a-dee and other times there are multiple ones at the end. According to Christopher Templeton at BirdNote, there is actually a code to the number of dees. One dee indicates that there is no threat, but five dees at the end of the call could indicate that there’s a Northern Pygmy Owl in the vicinity.
6. Aside from their famous chick-a-dee call, they also let out a fee bee.
7. Most chickadees are non-migratory, so you’ll often see them at your feeder in winter. This is notable because they are said to need up to 10 times more food in the winter than in summer.
8. Black-capped Chickadees and Carolina Chickadees overlap in parts of the United States and are very difficult to tell apart. They are so similar that they often mate with each other where they overlap and create hybrids.
9. Chickadees are known as hoarders, but in a good kind of way. They hide seeds and other items to eat for later. According to Cornell’s All About Birds, they hide each food item in different spots and can remember thousands of hiding places. They don’t keep all their eggs in one basket, so to speak.
10. Chickadees let neurons containing old, useless information die and allow new ones to form so they can adapt to changes. That would be like us forgetting old phone numbers to make room for new email addresses.
32 Comments
Well, this explains a lot. I’ve had a window feeder for years (the kind that suction to the glass), and I enjoy watching the chickadees (and one beautiful cardinal) visit every day. I’m so dedicated to keeping those feeders full that I’ve been know to fly outside in my pajamas rather that let any of the three trays get even close to empty. I love watching them come to casually munch and perch for a while, surveying the yard. But I injured my neck several weeks ago, and the levels of seed got low…I just couldn’t go out. The trays weren’t completely empty, but the pickings were slim.
Two days ago, I cleaned the trays and replenished their supplies with mounds of black sunflower seed, safflower seed, and crushed peanuts. Today I noticed those chubby little balls of fluff are flying in, gathering as many seeds or peanuts that can fit in their tiny beaks, and flying off. I wondered if they were nesting early or feeding a mate, but after reading about their hoarding behavior, I think they may have just lost faith in me! I’m no longer their permanent stash—they’re creating back-ups! Aw well; I’ll gain it back. I do see my feeder as a promise I have to keep–sometimes I go out at midnight to make sure they don’t go hungry in the morning. These last weeks were an unfortunate exception to my own rule. But as I write this, there’s the cardinal! Birds are so awesome.
me, too. I’m in southern NH and don’t see very many this year.
I am so worried, usually I have loads of chick a dees
here in Southern Vermont. This year so nothing. No birds.
I am so worried.
Darlene