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Nature's Solace
Celebrating Nature in the Pacific Northwest
Chickadees
Black-capped -- Poecile atricapillus Chestnut-backed -- Poecile rufescens
Black-capped Chickadee
Chestnut-backed Chickadee
Black-capped Chickadee - Every spring I prepare my pots for the starting of sunflower seeds not only because they grow to be amazingly tall beautifully cheery flowers, but because they are such a treat for the black-capped chickadees that come around.
I love watching the chickadee's grab and go style of eating. They'll nab a seed, sometimes hanging on upside down, and zip off with it to a nearby branch. There they will brace the seed against its perch and pry it open to get the meat inside. Of course, my sunflowers don't provide their only food. They aren't particularly picky as they feast on a large variety of seeds, berries and insects.
One afternoon as I was resting against a log along the mouth of the Elwha river, the corner of my eye caught the movement of a flitting bird. It was a black-capped chickadee with a mouth full of what looked like soft materials for making her nest. The chickadee pair works together to build the nest. The nest is created in a cavity they've either excavated in soft wood or a second hand woodpecker hole. She using mosses and other fibers, lining it with soft fur or hair she may pick up directly from an animal, dead or alive, be it deer, rabbit, coyote or livestock. The nest may be half fur and hair that brings insulation and warmth to the damp cold environment.
Gathering nesting fluff
As the female incubates her eggs - laying one each morning for 6 - 8 days (the record as far as is known was 13!), the male provides her and the chicks with food. When the chicks can regulate their body temperature, the pair work together to feed so many mouths. They are known to make 250 or more daily feeding trips to the nest. The young fledge after 16 days, but continue to be fed by their parents for another two to four weeks.
Chickadees seem to need more personal space than other songbirds. As they grab their seed, they will fly off in seclusion to eat rather than feed side by side with others. Even on the coldest nights, they rarely huddle up together to share body heat. and by the way, unlike many songbirds, chickadees don't migrate.
They are found only in North America - click here for range map
Songs - click here to listen to their array of songs
Black-capped chickadees have one of the easiest songs to learn as they sing out their name Chickadeedeedeedee
But their repertoire is much more varied. One day I heard a mystery voice - a two tone "fee-bee"whistle - it was a black-capped chickadee. On further research, I learned that the chickadee language is one of the most complex and fascinating in all the bird kingdom, with a whole variety of intelligent messages. To learn more, check out "7 Chickadee calls and What they Tell You".
Chestnut-backed Chickadee
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Smaller than the black-capped chickadee (4 3/4" vs. 5-5 1/4"), the chestnut-backed chickadee shares similar habitat. However, its range is much more limited to the west coast. Range map
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Like the black-capped chickadee, the chestnut-backed chickadee does not migrate and shares many of the same feeding, breeding and nesting behaviors. These chickadees may have two broods in contrast to the black-caps single brood. Chicks fledge between 18 - 21 days.
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The main call of the Chestnut-backed Chickadee is a high, thin, scratchy chick-a-dee, with less "dees" than the black-capped chickadee. You also won't hear the clear "fee-bee" whistle from
these birds.
To listen to their song and calls, click here.
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Resources:
All About Birds / The Cornell Lab - Black-capped Chickadee
All About Birds / The Cornell Lab - Chestnut-backed Chickadee
Nature Monitoring - 7 Chickadee Calls
Into the Nest by Laura Erickson and Marie Read
Passionate Slugs and Hollywood Frogs - An Uncommon Field Guide to Northwest Backyards by Patricia Lichen
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