Friendliest of Birds - Black-capped Chickadee

Black-capped Chickadee. Can you see the band on its right leg? Photos courtesy of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Black-capped chickadees are intelligent and inquisitive. They are always the first birds to come close and chatter at me when I am replenishing bird feeders with seed. They seem to scold me if I've let the feeders run completely out. Several have gotten quite used to me and may fly about my head, or sit atop the feeder pole making a "chickadee-dee" call - as if chiding me to hurry up so they can continue their touch-and-goes of grabbing a seed to hide before returning for another. The number of "dee" on the end of a chickadee call has meaning. Learn more in the facts below.

Interesting Facts Chickadees make a variety of vocalizations that include songs, calls, and other sounds. The number of "dee" on a song has meaning. Listen online at The Cornell Lab's All About Birds. The Black-capped Chickadee is Maine's State Bird. View a wonderful photo by Maine photographer Paul Cyr and learn when it was adopted as State Bird by Maine's Legislature. Chickadees will not sit and eat seeds at a feeder like many other birds do. Instead they get a seed, hide it to eat later, then return to the feeder for another seed. During the winter the feet of chickadees is maintained near freezing, while the rest of the body, under about a half-inch of feathers, stays a toasty 100-degrees F.  Climate Change impacts all life on Earth. View Audubon's map that shows how Climate Change will reshape the range of the Black-capped Chickadee. (Be sure to click on the "Climate Vulnerability tab after clicking this link.)

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