Bird Bio: Carolina Chickadee
One of the most common visitors to our backyard bird feeders is the Carolina Chickadee. These small, cute birds can often be overlooked, (at least until they build a nest in a bluebird box, but we’ll touch on that point later) but we can assure you that there is a lot more going on with these birds than meets the eye… Quite literally!
An Inquisitive Carolina Chickadee in the Fall
Photo Credit: Eli Haislip
Let me elaborate on my last point there. We are all likely familiar with the chickadee, and their seemingly simple black, grey, and white color. However, while reading through our copy of Sibley’s What It’s Like To Be A Bird, I learned an interesting fact. Did you know that research suggests that the chickadee, at least to the eyes of other chickadees, is likely a vibrant bird with clear differences between male and female? That is because unlike us, many birds including the chickadee are able to see ultraviolet light, opening them up to see an entire range of colors beyond purple.
While the sight of a chickadee picking out just the right sunflower seed or out of the shell peanut from your feeder is common, don’t take this to mean that they rely on you and your bird feeder for their survival, even in the dead of winter! To the contrary, over half the diet of the chickadee consists of insect prey, even in the cold winters of the northern parts of their range. Chickadees are also prolific seed cachers, being able to store up to 1,000 seeds per day! According to Sibley, the hippocampus, or the part of the brain responsible for spatial memory (recalling events or where you leave things; my missing key for instance) is larger in chickadees that live in northern areas with colder winters, where food storage is more important. The hippocampus actually begins to expand in the fall to accommodate the many new seed storage locations the bird must remember, and then shrinks again in the spring.
Chickadees often are one of the first birds that we hear reports of nesting activity in the spring. In fact, you could have a fully built chickadee nest and not even realize it, as they are very elusive about their comings and goings and if you blink, you’ll likely miss it. Being cavity nesters, chickadees will use abandoned woodpecker nests, nesting boxes, or other natural cavities for nesting. Nests are constructed from moss, with an inner cup filled with soft fur or plant material. Unlike the Eastern Bluebird, chickadees will only raise one brood of 3 to 10 white with reddish brown blotted eggs. Incubation lasts 12-15 days, with the nestling phase lasting an additional 16-19 days.
While we are on the subject of chickadees nesting, every year we will get customers becoming upset because a chickadee has built a nest in their bluebird box. This is normal, and it is completely fine! We assure you, the tiny chickadee did not bully the larger, more territorial bluebird out of its home. On the day of writing this, we watched our back alley bluebirds aggressively defend their box from a Chickadee, as well as a Titmouse and several House Sparrows. Never, under any circumstance, should you remove or destroy a chickadee’s nest in hopes of attracting bluebirds. If the bluebird wants the box, it will take it over. Also, as we mentioned, chickadees only nest once, early in spring, whereas bluebirds will nest up to three times throughout the spring and summer. Let the chickadees nest, and enjoy the learning process that comes with observing a new species nest! There is still plenty of time ahead for watching bluebirds.
During the winter months, chickadees will begin to band together, forming small flocks. There is a hierarchy in these flocks, with the dominant chickadees staying in the same territory to breed in the spring. Oftentimes, other birds such as Tufted Titmice, Ruby and Golden-crowned Kinglets, Red and White-breasted Nuthatch, Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers, and Brown Creepers will join in these flocks in search of food and protection from predators. Remember, for birds, there is safety in numbers!
Carolina Chickadee in the Snow
Photo Credit: Eli Haislip