Mar 23

Chickadee Nesting Question

By Brian Cunningham Birds, Chickadee, Nesting 2 Comments »

The nesting season is just getting going with the early nesters like bluebirds and chickadees.

I was recently asked a nesting question about chickadees that I thought would be fun to share and shed some light on a not-well-understood scenario with chickadee nesting.

“A Chickadee built a nest in a box in my yard. The nest was finished 8-9 days ago but no eggs yet. I have read that they can build multiple nests, choose the best site, and usually begin laying in about 2 days. Is this nest not likely to be used or should I leave it alone for a while longer?”

Chickadees shop around for nest sites. They check out lots of potential locations. They have been known to begin excavating and even start building a nest in three to five different locations in a season. Usually before the nests are complete they make a final decision on their favorite spot, complete the nest, wait a few days and then begin to lay eggs.

When chickadees excavate homes in rotten wood, the building process can take some time. Carolina Chickadees take about 20 days to lay the first egg after beginning to build a nest site. Black-capped Chickadees will take 7-14 days to lay an egg after beginning to build a nest site.

So, patience is in order before cleaning out a nest box that is thought to be abandoned by chickadees. If the nest looks finished, give it a week to see if eggs show up. If not, they may have chosen another location to raise their brood.

If you are having trouble getting Black-capped Chickadees interested in your nest box, try filling it with wood shavings for them to excavate. They seem to prefer that; whereas, Carolina Chickadees don’t seem to have a preference either way.

What birds are nesting in your yard? If you need a nest box, click here to find the right one.

Oct 27

Foraging Guild Unite

By Brian Cunningham Birds, Chickadee, creepers, Downy Woodpecker, kinglets, Nuthatches, Titmice, Woodpeckers Leave a Comment »

Ever wonder why, starting in the fall, it seems there is a group of different bird species that show up together at feeders and then leave together on a regular basis? Well, it’s that time of year again. Your local foraging guild is reconvening for maximum winter survivability.

The foraging guild is a group of different bird species that band together in winter for foraging and protection. Depending on the region and habitat, foraging guilds can include chickadees, titmice, nuthatches, woodpeckers, creepers and kinglets.

The birds in the guild work cooperatively to maximize their food-finding efforts. In general, each of these birds forages for food in different ways. However, they all learn a bit about how the others feed and it helps with everyone’s survivability.

The chickadees look on the under-side of small and large branches, while the titmice look on the top-side of bigger branches and kinglets look on the top-side of smaller branches. Nuthatches walk down tree trunks looking into crevices while creepers walk up tree trunks. Woodpeckers, well, they usually drill down into the bark for their food; but, they will look on trunks as well as branches.

In the guild, birds are safer than on their own. With all those eyes watching for predators, they create a kind of “neighborhood watch.” They learn each other’s alarm calls so when danger is spotted, one just has to call out to warn the others.

So, it is not a random scenario when multiple species show up at your feeders this season. Like a wave, they move in together, eat a bit, and then move on.

The guild members using my feeders right now are Carolina Chickadees, Tufted Titmice, Red-bellied Woodpeckers, Downy Woodpeckers and White-breasted Nuthatches.

Do you have a guild of birds visiting your feeders?

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Oct 19

Cashing in on Caching

By Brian Cunningham Birds, Chickadee, Jays, Nuthatches, Titmice Leave a Comment »


If your feeders are anything like mine right now, there are extended quiet times. It’s like the birds are waiting for someone to turn on the neon “Open” sign so they can visit with a frenzied purpose and then be gone again.

No need to be concerned. It’s caching season and many birds are cashing in on the abundance of natural foods. There are loads of seeds, nuts, berries, fruits and insects to harvest and hide for a better chance at surviving the coming harsh weather. And they can remember, very accurately, where they stash each morsel.

The birds are also taking advantage of foods in backyard feeders for caching.

Chickadees prefer to cache black oil sunflower seeds; often eating a small portion before hiding it in and under bark, dead leaves, knotholes, clusters of pine needles, gutters, shingles and in the ground. Chickadees cache more in the middle of the day when visiting feeders.

Titmice are rather particular. They choose the largest sunflower seeds available to eat and cache. Titmice and chickadees like to cache seeds within 130 feet of bird feeders; your yard or a neighbor’s yard. I find seeds tucked into the bark and crevices of my wood pile. A coworker finds seeds cached under mulch in her garden.

Nuthatches prefer heavier sunflower seeds over the lighter ones. Be sure to have some sunflower chips in your blend as they like these 25% more than one in the shell. They cache more in the morning and prefer to hide foods on deeply furrowed tree trunks and the underside of branches. Nuthatches are also known to hide seeds under a shingle or behind wooden siding, like a friend of mine has been observing on their house this fall.

Jays love to cache peanuts and acorns. They are especially fond of peanuts in the shell. They bury them in the ground and are known to cache about 100 in a day; emptying my feeder in no time. Watch for them make repeated trips to your feeders (or an oak tree) and fly off. They can travel up to six miles to bury their nutritious treasure.

What birds are cashing in on caching foods from your feeders?

Aug 15

August Almanac

By John Schaust American Goldfinches, Birds, Chickadee, Hummingbirds, Nighthawk, Titmice Leave a Comment »

Man, does time fly by or what?!

It’s almost mid-August and summer is waning all around me. It seems like spring migration was in full swing just yesterday.

Now the sights and sounds of late summer are all around. Hummingbirds are thick at feeders and adult goldfinches are being relentlessly harassed by their hungry juveniles. The serenading cicadas and katydids are trading their day and night shifts in earnest and Snowy Tree Crickets are keeping impeccable timing with their buzzing calls. Monarch Butterflies occasionally float by in a southerly direction and shorebirds are again being marked on local birders’ checklists.

While I hate to see summer fading, this is one of the most exciting times to be out in nature, especially since this year’s record hot temperatures have finally subsided to a more bearable level.

Bird populations are at an all-year high. Trees and other plants are laden with fruit, seeds and nuts. Interesting insects and spiders are everywhere. Fields will soon be ablaze with goldenrods and asters.

Migration is just beginning with shorebirds and a few hawks leading the way south. Chimney Swifts are gathering in large communal roosts and Common Nighthawks are joining forces as they prepare to head for South America. Chickadees, titmice and nuthatches are becoming more active at feeders as they start to hide seeds away in preparation for the cold weather to come.

The changes happen quickly and hopefully I have learned my lesson from this past summer. Time does fly by and Mother Nature waits for no one, so I better get outside to enjoy it now before winter sneaks up on me, too.

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Mar 25

Nature Break

By Brian Cunningham Birds, Chickadee, Northern Cardinal, Nuthatches, Sparrows Leave a Comment »

Spring-time calls to me like a siren’s song. Enticing all my senses, it compels me to stop and experience what is going on around me.

Each morning I arrive at work, get out of my truck and take 30 seconds to quietly listen. I want to experience who is singing over their territory. It is a great way to begin each day.

I recently attended a professional conference where we were tasked to find a solitary spot in the courtyard garden and write for 10 minutes. My spot was on a marble pergola by a flowing mineral spring. Here is a snippet of what I experienced.

I hear White-breasted Nuthatches, American Crows, Northern Cardinals and a Carolina Chickadee. Song Sparrows battle back and forth in song.

Smell of sulfur from the spring.

Cold from the marble pillar seeps into my back.

An American Robin buzzes the ground, sounding off wing-beat-squeaks as it passes.

The smack of a nut dropped by a squirrel. It chatters and runs through tree branches.

The entrance of a male Cooper’s Hawk. He perches, surveys, and takes flight, catches a small thermal and circles away.

Heed the siren’s song of Spring. Take a nature break and you’ll be amazed at what you experience.

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Feb 04

Backyard Feeders Do Count!

By John Schaust Birds, Chickadee, Events, Great Backyard Bird Count 1 Comment »



They called it a “storm of historic proportion” but to me it meant an unexpected two days at home with lots of time to watch the historic action taking place at my feeders.

The activity level was frantic with a volume and variety of birds unmatched in my recent memory.

With everything coated in a thick, solid layer of ice, plus strong winds and bitter cold, the birds coming to my feeders were literally on the brink of survival. And under these conditions, my feeders were playing their most vital role of the year…and it showed!

The constant parade of woodpeckers coming to my suet and peanut feeders ranged from the majestic Pileated to the demure Downy…often with all five resident woodpecker species in sight at one time!

Chickadees, titmice, Carolina Wrens and nuthatches ate almost continuously; and for good reason, as research on chickadees shows that during this type of extreme weather, their rate of survival almost doubles when they have constant access to feeders.

On the ice-covered ground, scores of juncos, White-throated, Song and American Tree Sparrows cleaned up the millet and sunflower chips under the hopper feeder. The juncos and Mourning Doves also congregated under the finch feeders where countless American Goldfinches kept a constant rain of Nyjer® (thistle seed) falling to the ground.

As daylight dwindled, dozens of cardinals graced my backyard and much to my surprise, a Hermit Thrush made a rare appearance to glean a few morsels from the ground before seeking safe shelter for the night.

It was an unbelievable two days that strongly reaffirmed that the feeders in my yard make a critical difference in the lives of the birds that claim my backyard as part of their winter territory. They counted on my feeders being there and being filled with seed during this extreme storm, and I am glad that I was able to make my feeders count for them.

P.S. Speaking of “counting”, the 14th Annual Great Backyard Bird Count takes place February 18-21. It’s a fun family activity that links citizens with scientists in an effort to collect important data about backyard birds. The GBBC is a joint project of Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the National Audubon Society and is sponsored by Wild Birds Unlimited. For more information go to www.birdsource.org/gbbc.

Dec 28

The Chickadee Zone

By Tracy Duncan Birds, Chickadee 2 Comments »

One of the more interesting parts of my job as a Business Consultant for Wild Birds Unlimited is traveling to visit the store owners I work with on a daily basis. My territory covers some of the most beautiful and ecologically diverse parts of North America. An interesting part of many of my stores are their customer photo display areas. The photos recount the rare and common birds customers have seen in their backyards and on their travels. I always try to do some birding on my visits, even if it’s only out my hotel window.
Fortunately, on my last trip to British Columbia, I had a once-in-a-lifetime experience with some birds in the Campbell Valley Park near Langley. One of the customers mentioned that the park was only minutes away and the birds have become so accustomed to walkers and people enjoying the park that they’ll eat right from your hand. Sometimes, they even nibble your fingers!
As my fiancé and I walked the trail, we were swarmed by a foraging guild of Black Capped and Chestnut-Backed Chickadees as well as Bushtits. We noticed seed on the trail, and the birds seemed so comfortable with our presence, we picked up some seed, outstretched our hands, and to our surprise, the birds landed almost instantaneously! It was such a treat to see so many birds this closely and for such tiny birds, their wing beats are quite loud. We had just entered the “Chickadee Zone.”
These little guys were quite persistent and it was interesting to see that while the seed was on the ground, it was left uneaten. As soon as it was in our hands, we were mobbed by these bold little birds. We also noticed that the Chestnut-Backed Chickadees, while smaller, were much bolder than their Black-Capped cousins.
Regardless of the species, they weighed virtually nothing. You could feel their tiny feet and nails but there was definitely no heft. Perhaps the most shocking aspect was the jaw power of these tiny creatures. Most were very polite (as all good Canadian birds are), but a few were either ravenous or near-sighted and ended up trying to take a chunk of my finger instead of the seed – Ouch!
I’m always excited to see birds on my store visits, especially when I can add new ones to my life list. This 20-minute excursion will leave me with memories that last a lifetime – thanks to an informative and passionate WBU customer!

Dec 01

Chickadee Memories

By John Schaust Birds, Chickadee Leave a Comment »

I spent some time during the recent holiday weekend taking care of the feeders in my yard. It is an annual Thanksgiving break ritual of cleaning, moving, changing and improving the feeder set-ups around my yard.

My chores were made much more engaging due to the constant companionship of my resident Carolina Chickadees. They were a continuous distraction as they hurriedly rushed back and forth between feeders, chattering nonstop and scolding me when I removed their favorite feeder for cleaning.

Chickadees are probably one of the main reasons I enjoy the hobby so much. Their energetic and saucy attitudes always brighten up even the dreariest day!

At this time of the year, chickadees are extra busy caching seeds for the winter by the hundreds. In a behavior called “scatter-hoarding”, each seed they collect is individually hidden in a unique location. Common storage sites include under tree bark, dead leaves, knotholes, and even behind house siding and underneath shingles.

The amazing thing is that they can accurately remember the location of each seed they hoard! Not only that, they also remember the quality of seed they initially stored, and make more of an effort to retrieve high quality seeds than inferior ones.

How do they do it?

Scientists have found that the hippocampus region of the brain, the area associated with this type of spatial memory, is proportionately larger in chickadees than in other birds that do not cache food. Not only is it generally larger, it actually increases in size in the autumn and shrinks back to its original size each spring!

It’s as if the chickadee adds more hard drive space to its brain’s computer as needed and then efficiently wipes it clean when it’s not.

It’s a very cool bird with a really cool adaptation to help it survive the winter and I am glad to have them around my yard to make my world a lot brighter…and my work just a little bit more enjoyable.

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Nov 08

Day Hiking in the Great Smoky Mountains

By Brian Cunningham Birds, Chickadee, Juncos, Nuthatches, Titmice, Uncategorized Leave a Comment »

Fall is one of my favorite times of year to head into the wilderness. The earthy smells, the crisp air, the crunch of leaves, squirrels squeakily chewing on tree nuts and cones, birds flitting around foraging for insects and seeds quietly talking to each other with single-note calls.

Now, we do our fair share of camping. But, we haven’t done much wilderness camping. So, I figured it was time to introduce my kids to this favorite pastime through backpacking. But first, they needed to be introduced to the mountains and what to expect.

What better way and time to do it then in the Great Smoky Mountains with the autumn leaf show. So, we packed up the van and headed out to day-hike part of the Appalachian Trail (AT) in the Great Smokey Mountain National Park.

The whole scene was gorgeous with mountain streams and waterfalls, bears preparing for winter, listening to and watching Dark-eyed Juncos, Black-capped Chickadees, Tufted Titmice, White-breasted Nuthatches, Downy Woodpeckers, Brown Creepers, Pileated Woodpeckers and more.

We visited an AT shelter. This was one of the nicest shelters I have ever seen. It even had a privy; what luxury for a backpacker! There was a watering hole just down the trail and they didn’t balk at it.

Some very memorable highlights included flushing a Roughed Grouse, my son hearing a Barred Owl so far away, even I missed it at first, and a Northern Waterthrush serenading us as we departed the mountains following a stream on the last day.

I think they are ready for our big mountain wilderness backpacking trip for next Spring. Time to start planning.

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