Photo Tammie Hache
Black Capped Chickadee

When we lived out in Hillsport, I had more Black Capped Chickadees coming to my feeders everyday than I could keep up with.  I was counting 35 to 40 of them at a time!  Since moving back here, Chickadee numbers at my feeders have dropped significantly ... down to only 3 or 4 at a time but they are still just as wonderful to see.  I've only ever seen Boreal Chickadees 4 or 5 times in the past 10 years.
I was amazed today to hear the call of a male Black Capped Chickadee (calling feebee, feebee) that I normally only hear in spring and summer.  All of sudden, this little bundle of fluffed up feathers showed up right in front of me, on the frame of our gazebo on the back deck ... singing his little heart out!  It was one of the cutest things I've ever seen.
Here's an interesting little tidbit about them:  The Black-capped Chickadee eats so much that it is one of the most important pest killers in the forest (from Hinterland Who's Who).  This bird:
• can remember where it hid food for at least 28 days after putting it in its hiding place
• drops its body temperature at night by 10 to 12°C below daytime body temperature, to conserve energy
• depletes much of its energy by feeding nestlings from six to 14 times an hour
• has a very established hierarchy, or “pecking order”
We have two types of Chickadees here:  the Black Capped and it's cousin, the Boreal.  Almost everyone would recognize a Black Capped Chickadee, with its black cap, white cheeks and black chin.  Most people will claim them as a favourite species.  Not too many people have seen the Boreal Chickadee which has a brown cap and is more brown and tan to the Black Capped Chickadees black and white.  The chickadee makes at least 15 different calls to communicate with its flockmates and offspring. The best known is the chickadee-dee-dee that gives the bird its name.  Male chickadees also sing a short ditty of two or three whistled notes (one higher and slightly longer, followed by one or two lower, shorter ones): feee-bee or feee-bee-bee.   These little birds eat from dawn to dusk.  They have to, to survive.  During the short winter day, the rate of feeding is sped up. Food not needed for the immediate activity of moving around and foraging is stored as fat. The fat provides energy that the chickadee needs to survive while sleeping and fasting through the long, cold night.   It is easy to see how important food is — sunflower seeds, peanuts, and suet — offered at a feeding station in winter.  Black-capped Chickadees are the most widespread bird species across Canada and the most recent surveys suggest that numbers are increasing.  Their success partly results from the increase in winter bird feeders, since chickadees readily adapt to these “free handouts.”
Other birds taking advantage of the free handouts in my backyard lately are Blue Jays, Whiskey Jacks, Downy Woodpeckers, Hairy Woodpeckers, Evening Grosbeaks, Pine Grosbeaks and sometimes, Common Redpolls.  Once in a while, a Raven will come in to eat from the platform feeder, causing all other birds to scatter.  It's only temporary so I don't worry about it.  The smaller birds will return in short order.  Activity is certainly picking up now that the snow is deeper.  When it's cold like this (-30's wind chills), I'm putting seed out on the platform feeder and back deck 2 or 3 times per day and there's no seed left in these spots by evening.
Don't forget about the Great Backyard Bird Count coming up February 12th to 15th!  Get more information from this link:  http://www.birdsource.org/gbbc/howto.html  or contact me.
Some information from Hinterland Who's Who.
Happy Sightings from you friendly neighbourhood Bird Lady!
Photo note cards and photo calendars still available at The Echo.
826-4561  
 tammie@theecho.ca

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