The little Black-capped Chickadee on the
right is a Votive
made by New Creative Enterprises. The one in the center is an
ornament made by Wild Republic. The little plush bird on the
left is made by Wild Republic and is one of Wild
Republic's Audubon Bird Series. At top is an ornament made
by New Creative Enterprises. It is part of a set of three different
birds. Check the Bird
Ornament Section to see if it is still in stock.
Black-capped Chickadees (Parus atricapillus)
are members of the Family Paridae, which are small, plump, small-billed
birds that are very acrobatic when feeding. Sexes are usually
alike. They often roam in little bands.
This plump Chickadee needs no introduction.
It is black-bibbed, dark-capped, white-cheeked with a grey back
and dull-white underparts. The wing feathers are narrowly and
distinctly edged with white. Chickadees are smaller than most
sparrows (4-3/4 - 5 3/4 inches), tame and friendly. Only in the
mountains of the Northwest do more than two species occur together.
Sexes are similar and young are like adults.
Its call is a clear chick-a-dee-dee-dee
or dee-dee-dee or a whistled fee-bee, the first note is higher.
Chickadees are a constant visitor to feeding stations, often
feeding upside down. The smaller (4-1/2 inch) Carolina Chickadee--south
of the Mason-Dixon Line -- has four or five notes in its whistled
song instead of two or three. The brown-capped Boreal Chickadee
(5 inch) is a winter visitor along the Canadian border. The western
Chestnut-backed Chickadee has a dull brown cap and a bright chestnut
back.
These birds are a permanent resident throughout
their range. The eggs are .6 x.5, white, finely spotted with
brown, 4 to 9 in number. The nest is made of moss, hair, feathers,
grass; lined with plant down. It is often located in a cavity
in a rotted stump or limb: 1 to 50 feet up; or a deserted woodpecker
hole. Attracting them into nest boxes is difficult unless the
boxes are filled with sawdust, which deceives the chickadees;
they carry the sawdust out a little at a time and then accept
the box for nesting.
Chickadees are easily attracted to feeding
stations. Their diet consists of insects and their eggs, weed
and tree seeds; wild fruits.
They are largely residents from Alaska
east across Canada to Newfoundland, south to northern California,
northern New Mexico, Missouri and northern New Jersey. Winters
south to Maryland and Texas. They frequent mixed and deciduous
woods, willow thickets and groves.
