Black Capped Chickadees

Chicka-dee-dee-dee-dee.....fee bee! No, I haven't gone batty; this is just the way a Black capped Chickadee would probably sing its tune for you! They are happy and carefree visitors, which are found amongst the woodlands. These birds often frequent the woods of Canada, Northern United States and Alaska. These Chickadee birds are often confused with the Carolina Chickadee; the one thing that can tell them apart is their way of calling or their sounds.

Facts about the Black Capped Chickadees

Black capped Chickadees or the Poecile atricapilla, often stay in one area and have a real charming behavior, which is combined with their musical calls. They have a black patch of color above their head with a white patch on both their sides. These Chickadees have a short bill that is dark in color and has a grayish white tone on its undersides. These cute chickadees build nests which are made of fine grass and can even make their home in abandoned or natural cavities, hollows in old trees. They can also be a guest in your backyard, if you have a chickadee birdhouse made especially for these lovable species. At times, they may also make a home in an old woodpecker nest.

Yet another interesting fact about them is that they are monogamous; most chickadees pair for life. Sometimes, if the partner doesn't appear for a long period of time, the chickadee will then choose a new partner for the next season. They begin their courtship period at the age of 1. Their eggs are smooth, round and white in color with fine reddish brown spots that are usually found on the larger end of the egg. On an average, the female lays around 6 eggs. The male then often feeds the female chickadee bird.

These birds spend their days hopping about trees and through the underbrush, looking for food. The diet of the chickadee bird consists of insects (during the summertime) and seeds or berries during the cold winter months. They eat both, plant as well as animals and are therefore omnivorous. If you are trying to feed such birds or attract them to the birdfeeder, you can keep some sunflower seeds for them at the bird feeder table. These birds are known to carry the food away at a certain distance to help shield them from possible predators. Being intelligent, these birds also have the awareness to store the berries and other food items for the winter months. They generally prefer to store their food in the barks of the trees, knotholes and sometimes even in the dirt. Each item is stored at a different site and most Chickadees do not repeat the same storage place. They have specialized leg muscles that help them to hang themselves from the branches in order to procure food. These chickadees are also apt at catching insects in air.

The Black capped Chickadee uses different songs and call signs to communicate with each other. Each sound is used to represent a specific meaning. The typical 'Chicka-dee-dee' is a complex call that is used by both, the males as well as the females to either call birds that are separated from the flock or even to express a new source of food.