{"id":1315,"date":"2015-01-31T02:17:16","date_gmt":"2015-01-31T02:17:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/backyardsfornature.org\/?p=1315"},"modified":"2015-03-10T01:46:22","modified_gmt":"2015-03-10T01:46:22","slug":"chickadees-in-winter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/backyardsfornature.org\/?p=1315","title":{"rendered":"Chickadees in Winter"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Edie Parnum<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

On cold winter days, watching perky Carolina Chickadees lifts my spirits. Nasty wind, snow, and ice do not deter them.\u00a0 At the window of my warm kitchen with its well-stocked pantry, I wonder how they survive the frigid weather. Weighing only as much as four pennies, they are the smallest birds that visit my feeders. They must be vulnerable to starvation and hypothermia.<\/p>\n

Imagining they depend on my beneficence, I diligently keep my feeders filled. My<\/p>\n

\"Carolina<\/a>

Carolina Chickadee fluffs its feathers and shivers to retain body heat. \u00a0Photo \u00a9 Howard Eskin. \u00a0Click to enlarge.<\/p><\/div>\n

chickadees land on the feeder with a jaunty bounce.\u00a0 They never stay on the feeder perches to eat speedily like the House Finches.\u00a0 The finches have large, strong beaks to break open seeds and can quickly chow down multiple seeds. Instead, chickadees use their tiny beaks to pick out an individual seed and carry it to a nearby branch. Holding it with their feet, they pound with their bills to break open the shell and access the meat.\u00a0 They repeat this again and again.\u00a0 Being a chickadee is hard work.<\/p>\n

I enjoy watching chickadees in the wild, too.\u00a0 Yes, I do go outside in winter\u2014my down jacket keeps me warm.\u00a0 Walking through the woods, I often hear their \u201cchickadee-dee-dee\u201d call before spying them.\u00a0 Sometimes merely a soft \u201csit-sit\u201d sound alerts me.\u00a0 In winter chickadees, along with Tufted Titmice, are leaders of a mixed flock of birds. These little sounds help the birds stay in touch as they roam a mile-wide circle. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The flock usually includes White-breasted Nuthatches and Downy Woodpeckers.\u00a0 Sometimes Hairy Woodpeckers, Brown Creepers, kinglets (both Golden-Crowned and Ruby-Crowned), and others tag along, too.\u00a0 The chickadees and titmice have this following because they are exceptionally alert to predators and adept at finding food.<\/p>\n

Chickadees search for food all the time. Using their beaks they continuously probe the crevices of bark, branches, and buds. \u00a0Little acrobats, they use their strong claws to hang upside down and investigate the undersides of branches and other vegetation.<\/p>\n

\"Chickadees<\/a>

Chickadees feed their nestlings exclusively insects and spiders gleaned from foliage and tree bark. Photo courtesy of and @ Steve Creek, Wildlife Photographer. \u00a0Click to enlarge.<\/p><\/div>\n

Even with my binoculars, I can\u2019t see what the chickadees are eating.\u00a0 Their eyesight is keener than humans\u2019.\u00a0 With twice as many receptors in their eyes and the ability to see ultra violet light, they locate their prey: tiny, camouflaged eggs, larvae, and other hibernating insects and spiders.<\/p>\n

Scientists tell me fifty per cent of Carolina Chickadees\u2019 winter diet comes from these dormant creatures.\u00a0 Insect food is proportionately higher in fat and calories than plants. Nevertheless, they relish the sunflower and safflower seeds at my feeders.\u00a0 Sometimes they eat suet and peanuts, too. \u00a0In the wild they consume seeds, berries, and cones. \u00a0Frequently I observe them devouring seeds while dangling from the balls of a Sweet Gum tree next to my house.\u00a0 Native plants like Eastern Red Cedar, Poison Ivy, Eastern White Pine, Tulip Poplar, and various birches and goldenrods are favorite foods in my yard and beyond. They cache some food items, remembering the location to retrieve when needed.<\/p>\n

Chickadees possess special adaptations to withstand the cold.\u00a0 Before the winter season starts, they grow 50% more feathers.\u00a0 To minimize heat loss they fluff up their feathers to<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>

A Mourning Dove fluffs its feathers to keep warm. Chickadees and other birds will use a heated bird bath for drinking and bathing when other water is frozen. Photo \u00a9 Edie Parnum. \u00a0Click to enlarge.<\/p><\/div>\n

create air pockets\u2014I think of my down jacket.\u00a0 Researchers say, however, shivering is the primary way chickadees maintain their body temperature.<\/p>\n

Carolina Chickadees\u2019 most difficult challenge is to survive the long, cold winter nights.\u00a0 I spend my nights in a heated house covered with layers of blankets\u2014oblivious to the possibility of freezing to death. At night a chickadee will roost singly in a cavity or dense vegetation\u2014seemingly an inadequate strategy for retaining body heat through the night.\u00a0 It can, however, lower its body temperature by 10 degrees to minimize loss of calories. Remarkably, chickadees can endure temperatures as low as -35 degrees.<\/p>\n

I wonder if feeding the chickadees and other birds helps them survive the winter. \u00a0They obviously like my well-stocked feeding station. \u00a0Before, during, and after snowstorms, birds flock to my feeders in especially large numbers. They can\u2019t access their natural food items when covered with snow, especially when coated by ice.\u00a0 Nevertheless, chickadees using feeders do not become addicted to \u201cbird\u201d seed. They rely on insects and plant food in the wild as well. In fact, chickadees living in remote areas depend completely on natural food.\u00a0 Their survival rate is almost as high as for birds whose diets are supplemented at feeders. Chickadees probably do not require my assistance.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>

A pair of chickadees survived the winter in Barb\u2019s yard and laid seven eggs. Photo \u00a9 Barb Elliot. \u00a0Click to enlarge.<\/p><\/div>\n

Alas, many chickadees do die during the winter. Despite their impressive adaptions to the cold, 50% don\u2019t survive.\u00a0 We shouldn\u2019t worry, however. The healthiest, best adapted will live to breed in the spring and lay 3-10 eggs.<\/p>\n

Now in late January, chickadees still have weeks of freezing winter ahead.\u00a0 Nevertheless, the chickadees know the daylight hours are getting longer and spring is coming.\u00a0 Already, I\u2019ve heard them sing \u201csee-bee, see-bay,\u201d their mating song. They are practicing for the breeding season when they will attract a mate, defend a territory, build a nest, lay eggs, and feed their young.\u00a0 I take heart, chickadees will survive and thrive for years to come.<\/p>\n

Carolina Chickadee identification, life history, and sounds: http:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/guide\/carolina_chickadee\/id<\/a><\/p>\n

Recommended native plants for Carolina Chickadees (note especially Trees and Shrubs): http:\/\/www.valleyforgeaudubon.org\/bfn\/pdf\/recommendedPlants031410FINAL.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Edie Parnum On cold winter days, watching perky Carolina Chickadees lifts my spirits. Nasty wind, snow, and ice do not deter them.\u00a0 At the window of my warm kitchen with its well-stocked pantry, I wonder how they survive the … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[100,1,112],"tags":[116,114,113,115],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/backyardsfornature.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1315"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/backyardsfornature.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/backyardsfornature.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/backyardsfornature.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/backyardsfornature.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1315"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/backyardsfornature.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1315\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1335,"href":"https:\/\/backyardsfornature.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1315\/revisions\/1335"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/backyardsfornature.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1315"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/backyardsfornature.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1315"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/backyardsfornature.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1315"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}