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| Beth Bergman's Photo of Chickadee |
Just got an update from Mohonk Preserve in New Paltz that spring is on
its way. How do we/they know? The Black-capped Chickadees (Poecile
atricapillus) are starting to make their spring breeding call. Instead of the familiar “chickadee-dee-dee,” they are beginning to whistle their two or
three note “fee-bee.” Males do it
more, but both males and females start singing this new tune when spring is
around the corner and they are thinking about love. In fact, maybe that’s what “singing a different
tune” refers to—time to start singing for love, making a nest, and
breeding. For those of us in the
Northeast, this particular Valentine’s Day is a good day for nesting at home
and avoiding the below zero, freezing weather.
I don’t know about the hunting for seeds and bugs that the chickadees do
at this time of year, but curling up with someone you love in a nice warm nest
sounds pretty good to me. Fee-bee,
Fee-bee!
The picture above is one taken by Beth Bergman for the Field Guide to Neighborhood Birds of New York City by Leslie Day. In it, Day tells us that the Chickadees are monogamous, that they
stay in their home territory for life, and that both parents take care of the
young. They make a warm cozy nest out of
fur, plant down, feathers, and cocoons.
The female produces up to 10 speckled eggs; see my drawing below.
If you have a feeder or live near a park or a
woody area, you are sure to see chickadees.
They live in all five boroughs of New York City and most other parts of
the northern United States and Canada.
They are cute, curious, and clever little birds. And love birds too!
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