Chickadees

Who doesn't love the cute-as-a-button Black-capped Chickadee!

They frequent our feeders during all times of the year.

Chickadees are amazingly hardy birds who are perfectly adapted to our harsh, northern winters. They mainly feed on frozen insects and insect eggs that they find in the cavities of trees. But, during winter, it is especially important to put out sunflower seeds, in tube feeders (which chickadees seem to prefer), as the chickadees and other birds need this extra fuel to ward off the cold.

They also feed on the sunflower seeds from suet, as do a variety of other birds, so a suet feeder is important to put out as well.

On severe winter days where temperatures may drop down to -40F, they need enough fuel to make it through those negative digit nights. They may eat from 10% to 60% of their body weight in insects and seeds during the day. When emerging from their overnight roost, they often have zero % body fat (from shivering all night long) and start building up their food stores all over again.

Here is a link to a great article about How Chickadees Weather Winter, by the National Wildlife Federation.

Chickadees seem to prefer dead birch trees for roosting and raising their young.

So, we put out natural cotton fiber for the birds to use in lining their nests. 

Dead birch trees have soft enough wood to make great nesting cavities. 

I found this chickadee going into and out of this tree snag, and at one point it brought out a fecal sac, so I knew that it had chicks down in the nest. I was boating on the pond at the time, and didn't want to disturb the bird so I only stayed for a short period of time.