Black-Capped Chickadee: Small Bird With Big Personality
Description: Size, Field Marks
Black-capped Chickadees are small birds that are members of the Titmouse family, measuring only 5 inches in length.
They have a plump, round body with a relatively short tail.
The bird's most prominent feature is its black cap that covers its head, extending from the eyes to the back of the head.
The cap is framed by white cheeks, giving the bird a distinctive black-and-white head pattern. It has a short, stout bill that is dark in color and a black bib.
Black-capped Chickadee
The upper parts of the bird are grayish or, with a slight olive tint on the wings and back.
The underparts are generally white, and the sides of the body may have a pale buffy hue.
Do Females Differ from Males?
The short answer is no, not by looks. However, watching behaviors and listening to their song you can tell which is male and which is female.
At the feeder the female is likely to give preference to the male. She will take her seed after the male gets his and flies away.
The male is the only one to give the Fee-bee call. When you hear it you know it is a male.
Pairing and Breeding Habits
By late winter, around February or early March, pairs break from their small winter flocks that have been feeding together through the cold months and begin selecting mates.
During the Chickadee breeding season, which begins in mid-April to early May, the males will sing to attract females. The songs are thought to convey information about the singer's fitness and genetic quality.
They also use physical displays to attract mates. For example, males may puff out their feathers and hop around to show off their physical attributes.
Males may also offer food to females known as "courtship feeding" and is thought to be a way for males to show their ability to provide for potential offspring.
Do They Mate for Life?
Most pairs of Black-capped Chickadees do indeed mate for life. However, extra-pair copulation also happens. Females will sometimes copulate with a male who has a higher social ranking.
Nesting Habits: When and Where They Nest
The nesting habits of Black-capped Chickadees begin in late March once a pair bond is made. The female Chickadee will begin by selecting a nest site.
As cavity nesting birds, they often choose old woodpecker holes or they may excavate in trees with soft or decaying interiors.
I've had good success with man-made birdhouses placed five or more feet above ground.
What Does the Nest Looks Like
The female Chickadee builds a cup-shaped nest using coarse materials like moss to form the base. She then adds softer materials like animal fur to the interior to protect the eggs and chicks.
The image below showcases the birds adaptablity to build nests that perfectly fit the size of the cavity they use.
Two Different-Sized Chickadee Nests
One bird house was larger than the other, so more nesting material was added. Interesting to note, both nests raised 6 chicks.
Egg Laying and Incubation Season
Chickadees egg laying season may begin as early as late April and go into July. Weather, along with the health and age of the female plays a part in determining when she lays eggs.
Healthy older females begin laying earlier than younger, less experienced females.
Later clutches may be a result of nest failure earlier in the breeding season.
The female will lay up to six eggs that are white with speckles and she alone will incubate them. Eggs will hatch after 12 to 13 days of incubation.
During the incubation period, the male will bring food to her. He will also chase any other males out of the territory.
The male black-capped chickadee will also call her from the nest, at which time she leaves the nest, and he feeds her.
Sometimes the female will leave the nest and call the male, and he will bring food for her to eat.
Occasionally, the female will feed on her own.
After the young hatch, the female will brood the young for the first few days. During this time, the male continues to bring food.
| Black-capped-Chickadee Nesting Habits | |
|---|---|
| Eggs | 3 - 7 |
| Incubation | 12 - 13 days |
| Nestling Phase | 16 days |
| Broods | 1 |
When Do Young Leave Nest?
After brooding, both the male and female share in feeding the young birds. The baby chickadees will stay in the nest for 16 days.
About 10 days after the young leave the nest, they'll be able to feed themselves. Yet, they will stay with the adults for a total of 3 to 4 weeks.
The birds raise one, rarely two, broods each season.
Bird House Placement - How Close Do They Nest to Each Other?
If placing multiple bird houses for Black-capped Chickadees to nest inside, you'll need to keep them a minimum of 80 feet apart.
I've had two different pairs nesting within 100 feet of each other without any problems. Of course, the experts suggest over 300 feet for best results.
Several factors come into play as to how close they'll nest to another pair. The scarcer the food, the further apart housing needs to be.
Placing feeders may help, but do not place them close to nest sites. The food you provide may attract predators that will eat the eggs and chicks.
What do Chickadees Eat: Summer-Winter Diet
The Black-capped Chickadees diet consists of insects, seeds, and berries. Eating large amounts of insect eggs and larvae during the nesting season.
Chickadee at Bird Feeder with Sunflower Seeds
Often you'll see them hanging on the underside of branches looking for insects.
Animal material makes up about 50% of their winter feeding habit, including insects, insect larvae, and egg cases. In the summer, up to 80% of their diet is animal-based.
Because they love to eat small caterpillars, chickadees do a great service by feeding on such pests as spruce budworms and cankerworms.
They also cache food, storing both seeds and insects, singly, in crevices, or under structures on the ground such as twigs.
They can find them up to a month later, and when several caches are available, they spend more time seeking those that contain greater energy value.
You can attract these birds to your bird feeder by using two of their favorite types of food.
Chickadees love both high-fat suet and Black-oil sunflower seeds.
Feeding Behavior
By watching these birds, you'll notice that only one bird feeds at a time. Each waits their turn at the feeder.
Since they stay during the winter, a Heated Birdbath would be helpful for their survival. All your winter birds need open water.
If using their favorite seed, consider adding a Squirrel Proof Feeder to your bird feeding station.
Watch as the Chickadee bird takes one seed, then flies to a nearby perch and eats the seed before returning for the next.
The reason for this behavior is that Black-capped Chickadees have small bills and need to peck the seed to open it and get the meat.
The most dominant birds feed first, while subdominant birds wait before feeding.
Dimensions For Building a Chickadee Birdhouse
Chickadees are cavity nesting birds and their nest in the wild will be found in wooded areas.
The nest is excavated in the soft, partially rotted wood of a tree trunk or broken limb. Black-capped chickadees are excellent candidates for man-made nest boxes.
The ideal size hole opening for the black-capped chickadee birdhouse is 1 1/8 inches in diameter.
The nest box should be about 8 inches in height with a floor size of 4 inches square. Drill 4 drainage holes in the floor.
The bottom of the entrance hole should be 4 to 6 inches above the floor of the birdhouse.
Face the house as close to the Northeast as you can to keep wind and rain out.
Chickadees Checking out Birdhouse
Build A PVC Chickadee Bird House
A really simple nesting house for these birds can be made from a 4-inch PVC pipe.
Use a 4-inch inside diameter PVC pipe 8 inches long and drill the opening 2 inches below the top. Purchase two PVC caps.
Purchase two PVC caps, and attach one on the top of the house and one on the bottom with screws. Screws allow for easy cleaning.
Rough up the front below the hole to help the bird's grip but never use perches. Perches only help predators and the Chickadees don't need them.
Place the PVC house where it gets plenty of afternoon shade to keep it from getting too hot.
Locate any Chickadees Birdhouse 4-15 feet high. Place a few wood chips in the nesting box to encourage nesting.
They will not use the wood chips, but this may help in attracting them to the nest box.
They will have several nest site locations excavated before selecting the one they use.
To be honest, I've had them nest in bluebird houses although one house I reduced the hole size to 1 1/8 to keep House Sparrows out.
I had pairs in both houses. 1 1/2 and 1 1/8 inch hole size.
I just feel better with the smaller opening. As an aside, I watched a Downy Woodpecker inspect the house with the larger opening in late fall.
Should predators become a problem, the nesting pair will abandon the nest and build a new one some distance away.
Late Summer And Winter Behavior Habits
After the end of the nesting season when the young have left the nest, look for these birds to gather into small flocks of a dozen or fewer.
Chickadees tend to remain on or near their breeding ground throughout the winter.
Each flock contains some juveniles, some adult pairs, and some single adults.
Black-capped Chickadee Range Map
The flocks form around a dominant pair and establish a feeding territory in which it defends against other flocks.
In more northern regions during cold weather, Chickadees (as well as other birds) often puff out their plumage, looking like a fat ball of feathers.
This is a heat-conserving mechanism as more air is trapped around the down feathers, which increases insulation and prevents the loss of body heat.
They can also constrict blood vessels in the skin, which further reduces heat loss.
If these mechanisms are not sufficient to maintain their body temperature (about 110 degrees F.), they can generate additional heat by shivering.
Unfortunately, this is only a temporary measure, as it requires the metabolism of food reserves.
During cold winter nights when temperatures drop and food reserves are low, Chickadees have a final trick up their sleeve. They enter a state of torpor.
This depresses bodily functions, including breathing and metabolism, and drops body temperature by about ten degrees. This significantly decreases the need for food reserves.
These small flocks are joined by other species of birds as they move through their feeding territory.
Some of these other species you'll see them with are Downy Woodpeckers, Tufted Titmice, and White-Breasted Nuthatches.
The flock stays together from August through February. After which, the Black-capped Chickadees begin a new season.
What is Their Lifespan
The average lifespan of Black-capped Chickadees in the wild is only 2 to 3 years. Only about 20 percent of the young that are born in any year will make it past their first year.
Just when you think nothing new happens in the birding world, you find a new record is recorded.
In Minnesota, the year 2011, Ornithologist Michael North re-captured a bird he had banded 9 years ago.
The bird was a two-year-old at the time of banding, which makes the bird 11 years and 6 months of age.
The old lifespan record was 11 years and 2 months. I know, not a lot of difference. Still, it's a record.
Your bird feeder can make a big difference in severe winters.
Birds that survive their first full year will have the skills needed for future survival.
Black-capped Chickadee Call - Song Meaning
Black-capped Chickadees have a wide repertoire of different calls and songs, which they use for communication and establishing territory
Fee-bee-ee Call: This vocalization is similar to the "phoebe" call but with an extended, descending third note. Males often use it during courtship or to establish territory.
Chick-a-dee-dee-dee: This is the most well-known call of the black-capped chickadee and gives the bird its name.
The song consists of a series of clear, whistled notes, often described as "fee-bee" or "chick-a-dee-dee-dee."
The number of "dee" notes can vary, but they are usually repeated in a series of two to four.
Other calls include high-pitched whistles for communication over short distances and a rapid "chickadee-dee-dee" as their alarm call.
