Our Bird of the Month for September is the Black-Capped Chickadee! These cavity-dwelling cuties are part of the caching crew, storing food when the temperatures start to drop, and can remember hundreds of hiding places. Quick and resourceful, chickadees are known to dart toward a source of food, take what they need, then retreat to a branch to crack the seed open between their feet.

Chickadees also excavate their homes in trees! They’re very tidy, taking their waste out of their nests and dumping it far from their homes. They value a clean environment, so make sure you’re keeping your feeders clean for them, too!

What do they eat?

Chickadees eat a wide variety of foods from nuts to insects. Sunflower seeds in the shell are particularly easy for them to cache for the winter, but they won’t turn up their beak to peanut butter or suet when they need some fat in their diet.

They’ll feed from windows, platforms, cages, and even the ground, making them a versatile and adaptable bird.

Staff Thoughts

Angela: I enjoy their curiosity and bravery; they are typically the first to find a new feeder! I love watching them bounce in to grab a peanut piece. It’s a treat when they actually stay and crack open a striped sunflower or black sunflower.

Nick: As I’ve learned to identify birds better, I’ve still struggled with identifying some of the smaller birds. But chickadees are so distinctive, that they’ve made things easier for me! Maybe their impressive memories are starting to rub off on me a little.

Ginger: It’s fun to hear their little “chickadee-dee-dee” calls in my yard. They get so excited watching me fill the feeders. I get a variety of birds at my window feeder, but I always know when it’s a chickadee without even looking because they love to grab a black oil sunflower seed and loudly crack them open on the edge of the feeder.

Michelle: It’s migration time! So if you see or hear a small flock of chickadees, you might have some migrants filtering in through your regulars.