Cute Black Capped Chickadee Wild Birds Nature Magnet

The chickadee is a familiar visitor to bird feeders and gardens. The black-capped chickadee (Poecile atricapillus) is native to North America. On this design you can change or delete the text if you like. This cheerful songbird does not migrate and usually remains through the cold winter months. She has a special talent that she shares with only a couple of other birds. She can lower her body temperature at night and therefore requires less heat and energy; this condition, known as torpor, also occurs in the common whip-poor-will and some species of hummingbirds. Among the most intelligent of the small songbirds, the chickadee is a fast learner and will also make friends with you if you offer his favorite treat of sunflower seeds. Chickadees are omniverous, eating a variety of seeds and insects. In summertime they are most fond of bugs and grubs and especially caterpillars, while in winter they eat more seeds. The chickadee has a vast range of vocalizations and is often recognized by its call "chick-a-dee-dee-dee" where the number of dee's indicate the amount of danger the bird perceives. Chickadees mate for life. The female is most responsible for the nest, which she builds in a hollow tree or post. She broods the eggs and the male feeds her. Chickadees usually won't nest in regular bird boxes, but may be more inclined if you put in some sawdust, before the birds have settled in. They will take out the sawdust, much like they'd do in a hollow tree, and assuming conditions are right, they accept the nesting box. In native American and other myth, the chickadee is known as the Bird of Truth. The black-capped chickadee is the state bird of Maine and Massachusetts in the United States, and the provincial bird of New Brunswick in Canada. Original wildlife chickadee photo by M Sylvia Chaume, Canada.