Wildlife Watching Wednesday: The Black-Capped Chickadee

By: Tom Berg

One of the most common visitors to back yard bird feeders in the northern half of the United States (and much of Canada) is the Black-Capped Chickadee. They do not migrate south for the winter, and for a very small bird they can withstand some extremely frigid temperatures. The very similar-looking Carolina Chickadee inhabits the southeastern section of the USA.

As their name implies, black-capped chickadees have a distinctive black cap on top of their head. They also have a jet black throat and bright white cheeks. Their belly is white with buff-colored sides and their shoulders and wings are gray. They have small black eyes and a very small black beak, as well.

They love seeds of all kinds, especially black oil sunflower seeds. Bird feeders that offer sunflower seeds are very attractive to chickadees, and they usually swoop in, grab a seed and then quickly fly off to a nearby tree branch or bush to eat it. This constant movement provides them with an extra measure of protection against one of their mortal enemies, the bird-eating Cooper’s hawk.

Besides sunflower seeds, chickadees will eat other seeds, suet, small berries and a variety of insects.  During the warm weather months, insects make up the bulk of their diet. Like many woodpeckers and several other bird species, black-capped chickadees often hide seeds and other bits of food in secret caches so they can come back later when food is scarce and retrieve them. They are remarkably good at remembering where they stored each morsel.

Black-capped chickadees are cavity nesters, and they often take over and use old abandoned woodpecker cavities for their own nests. They are also proficient at excavating their own nest cavities in dead trees or in the rotting branches of a live tree. They typically have just one brood per year, and the clutch size can be anywhere from one to a dozen eggs. They will also nest in wooden nest boxes provided by humans, especially if suitable trees or tree cavities are not available nearby.

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