Attracting the Black Capped Chickadee 

What they eat

What fun it is to hear and see Chickadee's in our backyards. These very active little birds expend a lot of energy while flitting from tree to tree and branch to branch sometimes hanging upside down while looking for insects on the underside of twigs. Insects as mentioned are a food source the Chickadee enjoys, along with berries and seed. One way of attracting Chickadee birds to our backyard garden is by offering black oil sunflower seeds in our feeders. We find that a platform or tray feeder works well for these little guys because they can be in and out quickly, taking the seed to a nearby tree or bush where they can eat in safety. Sometimes they will stay a while to eat a seed or two at the feeder, holding it with their feet as they peck at it to get the kernel inside. Another food choice that will attract a Chickadee to your yard is suet. Suet offered in a wire basket attached to a tree works nicely but is very easy for squirrels to dine at. If you would rather feed Chickadees and not squirrels, try a hanging suet feeder or even an upside down suet feeder that will make it a little more difficult for squirrels to share, adding a predator guard in the form of a dome, above the hanging suet feeder, will help lots too. Chickadees may hoard food in caches on the ground under twigs etc in an effort to give themselves a source of food in times of scarcity.

Hand feeding. 

Ok how about a little fun, try hand feeding! With some patience you will be having chickadees eating out of the palm of your hand. The best suggestions we have seen for this is to

1) First start this on a cold winters morning when the chickadees are particularly hungry.

2) Hold some special treats in your hand like walnuts.

3) Starting at about 10 feet away, move a foot closer to your feeder each day.

4) After a week or so you should be able to put your open hand with food in it, on the feeder. If they have not eaten out of your hand by now, these brave little birds soon will. GOOD LUCK!

 Interesting Tidbit - The Chickadee is both the Maine state bird and the Massachusetts state bird.                                                                                                                                                                                          

Nest sites

The chickadee is a cavity nesting bird, that is, it will build a nest in an unused cavity or hole, maybe one that had previously been hollowed out by a woodpecker in a tree trunk. In areas with fewer trees, or lots of competition for nesting cavities, or just to bring a nesting chickadee closer for observation, you may choose to add a bird house that is made specifically for chickadees. They will readily accept a man made bird house as a nesting site, one with the right sized entrance hole will discourage some other birds from using it. Adding a few wood chips will give it a more natural feel and it also gives the chickadee the option of adding more wood chips or discarding some to make it "just right" Secure your chickadee bird house to a post pole or tree, 5 feet to 15 feet high.

The female chickadee will add soft material to her nest box, moss, feathers and hair, then lay her eggs of which there are usually around 6 or 7 but sometimes it may be as many as 10. During this time of laying and incubation, the male chickadee will feed the female. Later both the male and female will feed the young birds up until the birds leave the nest and then continue feeding them for a further week or so.

Range of chickadee species

Black capped chickadee (Poecile atricapillus) Northern half of United States

Carolina chickadee (Poecile carolinenis) Southeast United States

Chestnut backed chickadee (Poecile rufescens) Pacific coast

Mountain chickadee (Poecile gambeli) Mountain forest of western United States.

Boreal chickadee (Poecile hudsonicus) Boreal forests of Canada into northern tips of United States.