My backyard Chickadees

Photo by BarrytheBirder

M Black-capped ChickadeeM

Parus atricapillus

Black-capped Chickadees have been using the birdhouse pictured above, in our backyard in King City, for 20 years.   I'm ashamed to admit that I have never cleaned it out in all those years.   The chickadees seem to cope quite well however.   I'm not sure if they are able to carry off the detritus that's left behind after raising so many broods over the years, or whether it's just about full to the rafters.   I have promised myself that this year, after the breeding/brooding season, I will take this house down, completely deconstruct it, clean it out and return it to its spot on the garden shed.   Chickadees are tame, inquisitive, trusting and ubiquitous (you'll find them from Alaska to Newfoundland and in the northern half of the lower 48 states.   They're one of those birds we all have in common, it seems.   They always seem to be around.   That's because they seldom fly long distances.   According to Wikipedia: "Clutch size is 6-8 eggs...incubation lasts 11 to 14 days and is by the female only, who is fed by the male".   The chickadee's name is imitative of its call (chick-a-dee-dee-dee) and it has been stated that it was Thoreau who gave this bird its American English name in 1838, in his Journal.
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BtheB