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Saturday, December 3, 2011
These friendly little backyard birds are year round visitors to my bird feeders. Their jaunty little black 'hat', shiny black eye, black beak and neck, white cheeks, grey backs and white and black wings and tail with light orange-tan sides make them beautiful and distinctive.
They love both black oil sunflower and grey-striped sunflower seed, peanuts and peanut butter, suet, day-old bread and pieces of baked goods. They are also voracious insect eaters. Chickadees will hang upside down to find the bugs on the underside of leaves and branches.
If you have an infestation of tent caterpillars, chickadees can be your best friends. Their curiosity makes them the first to investigate a new feeder or bird food items. I will never forget one morning in the winter I was filling the bird feeder, and a chickadee landed right on top of my hat. Luckily I knew enough to stay very still and not startle it. I felt like I had truly acquired a very appreciative friend!
They stash their food one piece at a time. Science has discovered that they have phenomenal memories. They actually remember where each and every piece is hidden! Chickadees follow whatever food source is abundant in the area of their range. That makes them very handy to wipe out a lot of bugs on your flower and veggie plants.
Chickadees appreciate fresh water year round. In the northeast a heated bird bath, or one with an inexpensive de-icer plugged into an outside outlet will surely invite your chickadees to make your backyard their stomping grounds.
Acrobatic and always in motion, their ‘chick-a-dee-dee-dee' and ‘feebee' call is familiar in all parts of the nation. If you live out west, you know this little guy as a Mountain Chickadee. Carolina Chickadees populate the southern states, while the Black Capped Chickadees inhabit the northeast. All of them look alike except for the Mountain Chickadee. It sports the 'Mask of Zorro' because of its white eyebrow! Maine and Massachusetts have made chickadees their official state bird.
Males and females look alike. They usually mate for life and readily accept man-made nesting boxes or birdhouses that are placed from 2 feet to 8 feet off the ground and face toward the east. They need an entrance hole between 1-1/8" to 1-½" in diameter, and a floor size of 4"x4" with a height of 9" to 12". Their nests consist of plant fibers, animal fur, moss, grass, silk from cocoons, feathers or anything soft enough to cradle their 6 to 8 white with brown speckled eggs. Baby chickadees hatch in about 2 weeks.
I keep my bird houses up year round. And I will be adding roosting boxes this year as well. Birds will shelter in groups from the harsh winter weather. As they huddle together, their body heat helps them survive the long, bitter cold nights. Providing these shelters can make a real difference in survival rates. The roosting boxes should be mounted securely on trees in a sheltered area of your property or in evergreens, 8' to 10‘ above the ground.
In late spring here in the northeast, my chickadees disappear into the woods during the warmest part of the day. Once it starts to cool down beginning in autumn, they are again constantly at the feeders or scouring the shrubs and plants for goodies. I have 4 or 5 chickadees that hang out in my weigela shrubs chatting back and forth and picking through the leaves for insects. They are undisturbed as I pass by, happily carrying on conversations among themselves, jumping from branch to branch just barely visible to my eyes.
As much as I do not look forward to the cold winter months, they are made more bearable by my friendly flocks of chickadees. They are part of the winter ‘gang', which consists of downy and hairy woodpeckers, nuthatches, titmice, juncos, cardinals, blue jays and yellow-breasted woodpeckers. I do enjoy seeing them on a sunny snow-covered winter day cheerily flying back and forth. I have to say I really look forward to that.
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/bird-watching-articles/enchanting-chickadees-5184152.html
About the Author
Connie Smith is the expert author and has over 35 years of wild birding experience. For more information about wild birds, visit her website at:
http://www.rusticbarnwoodbirdhouses.com
There you will also find many unique Amish handcrafted wooden bird houses and bird feeders.
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