Black-capped Chickadee Facts
Social, Roosting, Feeding and Breeding Habits of Poecile atricapilla
Black-capped Chickadees look like happy carefree visitors to woodlands and bird feeders, but these birds are intelligent, hierarchical, and territorial.
Black-capped Chickadees, Poecile atricapilla are familiar North American birds: they visit back yard feeders and often stay in one area throughout the year. Their typical call, chick-a-dee-dee-dee is familiar to many bird watchers. Their charming behavior, however, hides intelligence and a distinct social order. Here are some interesting facts about the social, roosting, feeding, and nesting habits of Black-capped Chickadees.
Black-capped Chickadee Flocks:
- Black-capped Chickadees form flocks of four to twelve birds outside of the breeding season. Mated pairs remain with the flock permanently, but young unmated birds move away and join another flock.
- Each flock has a heirarchy: the most aggressive bird dominates the rest and all the others fall into a decreasing pecking order. Dominant birds have an advantage in feeding, roosting, nesting and other activities.
- A flock occupies a territory covering eight or more hectares (24 acres or more). The birds often reuse the same routes as they travel through it.
- Black-capped Chickadees don’t normally migrate outside their normal range, but young birds may move south together in fall.
- Chickadees communicate with each other with a range of calls that convey information about dangers, territories, food supply etc.
Roosting Habits of Black-capped Chickadees:
- Flocks roost together in dense evergreen trees, often returning to the same tree each night. Birds may also roost individually in cavities in trees or roosting boxes. A roosting box is unlikely to be occupied by a chickadee if the flock has an established roosting place.
- Roosting chickadees fluff out their feathers to conserve heat, and their body temperature drops significantly to save energy.
- Even when pairs have broken away for nesting, the flock may still roost together, especially on cold nights.
Feeding Habits of Black-capped Chickadees:
- A surprise to those who are familiar with the birds visiting feeders for sunflower and other seeds, chickadees eat mostly insects, and are valuable for controlling insect pests. They turn to eating seeds in winter when the supply of insects is greatly decreased.
- Black-capped Chickadees hide food under tree bark and in patches of lichen. They can remember the locations of multiple hiding places and return later when food is scarce. These food stashes are probably vitally important in winter during times of heavy snowfall.
Breeding and Nesting Habits of Black-capped Chickadees:
- Black-capped Chickadees move together in winter, but break up into territorial pairs to breed. Thus, though you may have a flock visiting your feeder all winter, you are likely to have fewer birds from late March to late May.
- Nesting begins at the end of March—5 to 10 eggs are laid by late April. Eggs hatch after about two weeks and the young fledge 16 to 17 days later.
- The male bird feeds the female during courting and while she is sitting on the eggs.
- Pairs excavate cavities in soft and rotting wood, usually between one and three meters (3-10ft) from the ground.
- After the young fledge, the parent birds molt. Thus, if you are seeing the entire family in your yard or at your feeders, the young birds are the ones with neat and tidy feathers. Fledglings also have shorter tails.
Black-capped Chickadees have many predators including snakes, squirrels and chipmunks, mice, weasels, and birds of prey. Nests and sitting females are particularly vulnerable.
Related content:
Sources:
“Black-capped Chickadee.” Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology. All About Birds.
“Black-capped Chickadee.” Hinterland Who’s Who. Canadian Wildlife Service and Canadian Wildlife Federation.
Firefly Encyclopedia of Birds. Perrins, Christopher ed. Buffalo: Firefly Books, 2003
