Black-Capped Chickadee Nesting Habits a Close Look
The Black-capped Chickadee is beloved by every birder. This guide reveals how they navigate the challenges of winter to building nest, laying eggs, and raising young in the spring.
I find that Black-capped Chickadees, while small birds, have big personalities. Their unique nesting practices and social hierarchy influences their feeding and breeding behaviors making them far from ordinary.
Let's explore topics like their breeding season, egg-laying habits, and how to provide a proper nest box to attract them to your yard.
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
Well before the nesting season begins, pairs break from their small winter flocks that have been feeding together through the cold months and begin selecting mates. This happens in late winter around February - early March.
During the courtship period, unmated 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
Black-capped Chickadees begin their nesting in mid-April - May in most areas. Once a territory has been established and the female has selected a nest site.
The pair may build in an old woodpecker hole or they may excavate in trees with soft or decaying interiors.
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.
I've had good success attracting them to bird houses placed five or more feet above ground and at least 100 feet apart.
What Does the Nest Looks Like
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 begin laying eggs as early as late April and can 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.
Nesting timeline and egg-laying habits of Black-capped Chickadees.
| Nesting Timeline Behaviors | |
|---|---|
| Egg Laying | May - 3 - 7 laid |
| Incubation | 12 - 13 days |
| Nestling Phase | 16 days |
| Broods | 1 |
When Young Leave Nest, What Happens?
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. The adults continue caring for the young a total of 3 to 4 weeks after they fledge.
Chickadee's typically raise one brood per season. Second nesting are rare and likely due to first attempts failing.
Bird House Placement - How Close Do They Nest to Each Other?
Black-capped Chickadee at Birdhouse Entrance
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 never 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.
Chickadees are nature's little exterminators, feasting on pesky caterpillars like spruce budworms and cankerworms.
These clever birds also stash seeds and insects in hidden spots, recalling their locations even a month later to maximize energy intake.
If 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, high-fat suet and Black-oil sunflower seeds.
Feeding Behavior
Observe these birds at your feeder and you'll see that each waits patiently for their turn. Watch as one snatches a seed and retreats to enjoy its meal before returning for more.
This behavior stems from their small bills needing precision pecking to access the seed's heart.
Dominant birds assertively dine first while others bide their time, giving us a glimpse into bird hierarchy.
If using their favorite seed, consider adding a Squirrel Proof Feeder to your feeding station to save on seed cost.
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
Crafting a simple nesting house for chickadees is easy with just a few materials.
Start with an 8-inch long PVC pipe, 4 inches in diameter. Drill an entrance hole 1 1/8 inches 2 inches from the top and cap both ends securely with screws for easy cleaning access.
Roughen the surface below the entry inside and out to help birds grip, skip perches, as they aid predators more than our feathered friends.
Situate the house to bask in afternoon shade, preventing it from overheating. Elevate it between 4 and 15 feet for optimal results.
Place some wood chips inside the nesting box; while they aren't used, these chips sometimes entice birds to choose it as their home.
If you see them removing the chips you'll know they are interesting in your nest box.
I've successfully transformed bluebird houses by shrinking their entry holes to 1 1/4 or even 1 1/8 inches, effectively keeping out pesky House Sparrows.
Late Summer And Winter Behavior Habits
As nesting season wraps up, watch for chickadees forming small flocks of a dozen or fewer.
These lively groups stick close to their breeding grounds all winter, blending juveniles with adult pairs and solo adults.
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.
Black-capped Chickadee Range Map
Chickadee flocks rally around a leading pair, fiercely guarding their feeding grounds from rivals. In chilly northern climates, these birds transform into fluffy spheres of feathers to brave the cold.
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 tighten skin blood vessels to trap warmth. If that fails and their body temperature dips below 110F, they shiver to produce extra heat.
However, this quick fix burns through food reserves fast.
On frigid winter nights, as temperatures plummet and food becomes scarce, Chickadees unveil their ultimate survival tactic: slipping into a state of torpor.
It slows down breathing and metabolism, lowering body temperature by ten degrees. This drastic change sharply reduces the need for food reserves.
As these small flocks visit their feeding grounds, they are accompanied by an other bird species like Downy Woodpeckers, Tufted Titmice, and White-Breasted Nuthatches.
From August to February, this community of birds will travel together before the Black-capped Chickadees embark on a new season's journey.
What is Their Lifespan
Black-capped Chickadees usually live just 2 to 3 years, with only 20% of hatchlings making it past their first year. But nature has its marvels.
In Minnesota's winter of 2011, ornithologist Michael North recaptured a banded chickadee that defied the odds.
At an incredible age of 11 years and six months, this bird shattered longevity records by four months. While seemingly small, such feats highlight the wonders of avian endurance.
Want to help? Your backyard feeders are lifelines during frigid winters, helping young birds gain vital survival skills for thriving in the wild.
Black-capped Chickadee Call - Song Meaning
Black-capped Chickadees are primarily forest dwelling birds and get thir name from thier "chick-a-dee" calls.
This melodious tune, both a friendly greeting and a sharp alarm, shifts in intensity to suit their needs.
Meanwhile, males serenade with the "fee-bee-ee" call, marked by an extended third note during courtship or territorial claims.
The number of "dee" notes can vary from two to four, adding unique flair to each performance.
