Chickadees are classified as members of Kingdom Animalia. These birds came under the phylum Chordata and class-specific to them is called Aves. These are members of the family Paridae, order Pissiformes and genus called Poecile. These are the official birds of state Massachusetts located in America.
They are inhabitants of North America and their calls are like “chick-a-dee-dee and are usually alarming calls. The number of dees used at the end of the voice gives information to their family members about the predators. They are having special memories of areas and are intelligent enough to survive in harsh environments. A single bird can hide almost 80, 000 individual seeds to use in the winter season.
Types of chickadees
There are seven different types of chickadees which are following:
- Black-Capped chickadee
- Carolina chickadee
- Mexican Chickadee
- Gray-Headed chickadee
- Mountain chickadee
- Chestnut-Backed chickadee
- Boreal chickadee
Black-Caped Chickadee
Their beak is short and thick and the tail is long and narrow. They prefer to live in the evergreen and deciduous forests of the world. They are also present in high woody areas including cottonwoods. They usually make their nests in barks and branches of trees.
Carolina chickadee
These birds live in the southern areas of the world. They prefer to live in the woods and along the streams. Their cap is black and becomes white in the cheeks area.
Mexican Chickadee
They are present in the Chiricahua mountains and forests of Arizona and New Mexico and are rarely seen by ordinary people. These birds are having raspy and husky-type voices and fly on high altitudes.
Gray-Headed chickadee
These birds are much rare in number and live in Alaska, a region in the faraway Arctic area. These species are out of reach, so the scientists do not have enough knowledge about their appearance. These birds sing their type of melodious typical songs.
Mountain chickadee
These birds are occasionally found below 3000 feet. They are having black sooted colored heads and eyes. The entire body is brown except for the head and eyes.
Chestnut-Backed chickadee
They are called so because of Chestnut dots on the lower part of their body. They usually live in the pacific area of the Northwest. Their faces are covered by a brownish crown. Their legs are having different colors but the abdomen is white. Due to different colors, they are having striking appearance.
Boreal chickadee
People who are not living in the northern areas such as Washington, Montana, Michigan, and Northern Canada, cannot see such types of Chickadees. Their caps are brown to gray. Their cheeks are white and become grey around the eyes. The undercarriage is olive-gray. The tail is greyish with white fringes.
What Do Chickadees Eat? List of Food Items
Chickadees are omnivores and prefer to eat both animals and plants depending on the availability. In the wildlife, they eat a variety of foods such as fruits, seeds, berries, carrion, and some insects. Their diet majorly depends on fruits and seeds but they can eat a small quantity of animals’ meat. Their feeding ingredients and pattern are largely dependent on environmental conditions and the accessibility of food items.
They are easily attracted to backyards by bushes of fruits, bird’s feeders, and dispersed seeds and berries. They are not hunters but can eat everything including humans’ feeds such as biscuits, bread, and snacks which are sometimes unhealthy for them. Seeds are their favorite food items of them.
They love to eat sunflower seeds containing black oil, safflower seeds, millet, nyjer seeds, cracked, broken sunflower seeds, chopped peanuts, corn, and peanut butter. The fats present in peanuts are an excellent source of energy. They are good at eating covered and chopped seeds into smaller chunks.
Sunflower seeds
These seeds are their favorite food item and are highly nutritious, these seeds are good food ingredients to feed and attract them in the backyard. When other sources of food are deficient, then these seeds play their role. They love to eat back sunflower seeds.
Insects and worms
These birds feed on a great variety of insects because they are so active in their flight. They are opportunistic scavengers and easily find moths, flies, spiders, and caterpillars. They also eat mealworms when they visit any backyard area or garden.
Thistle and suet
They love to eat thistle but cannot eat the whole seed of it. They only eat contents inside the seeds. They hold the thistle seed with the help of their claws, feet and try to break the shell and eat the exposed contents. Suet is also an important part of their diet. They prefer suet in the colder season as it is rich in energy and when other ingredients are shortened.
Carrion
These birds are omnivores and eat both plants and animals. They sometimes visit carcasses to have a small amount of flesh of dead animals. they rarely hunt a large animal in the form of flocks, to eat.
Fruits
They mostly visit gardens which are having a large number of berry bushes. Fruits such as strawberries, cut grapes, raspberries, blueberries, bilberries are mostly liked by them. Other fruits like apple, cut pawpaw, pear and oranges are also easy to consume for them.
Drinking habits of Chickadees
They drink a lot of water to keep them hydrated and fresh. They sometimes use shallow water to take bath or clean themselves and their feathers. For bath, the dispersed river rocks are acceptable for safe entering and departing from water and it reduces the danger of drowning. They usually avoid deep baths and vessels. They get their feed mostly from the ground and if food ingredients become short, they consume carrion. As they are quick birds, they cannot walk on the ground for longer periods.
What Do Baby Chickadees Eat?
The baby birds are raised and fed by both male and female parents. They offer them regurgitated food at an early age for a few weeks. After some time, they can collect food and even start hunting insects on their own and then they leave their nest and live independently. These birds generally live the age of three years but there are some examples of 11.5 years of survival.
Eating habits in wild
They mostly have food that is easily available in their natural area of residence. They almost eat all types of food depending on the availability. With the help of their active flights, they can easily catch their prey. They sometimes visit farms of different crops in search of seeds. In severe weather and less available food, they can easily survive on carcasses of dead animals.
Eating habits in captivity
In imprisonment, they eat different types of food on daily basis. People generally offer them different fruits, berries, seeds, and insects. In this way, they can have all the nutrition including different vitamins and minerals, they required to maintain their healthy lifestyle.
Different eating habits and time
To maintain their health, chickadees require one-third of food as compared to their body weight. Their digestive system is so fast and always have a strong appetite. Because of their activeness, they use a lot of energy which fulfills their requirements of feeding. They require food after every 30 minutes and acquire nutrition from them.
Winter Survival methods
The digestion of eaten food takes almost 30 minutes. During the winter season, their weight gain is shifted to night. Their body shaking process produces much heat as required. They require a high amount of carbohydrates and fats for energy provision and black oil sunflower is much suitable for this purpose.
These birds require more food in the winter season but the availability of food items is very less in this season. For surviving the night without food, they have to eat in the day without break. To store energy, they can lower their body temperature up to 14 degrees Fahrenheit. For this purpose, they can lower their metabolic rate.
By burning fewer calories, produce low energy and ultimately lower their body temperature. They roost at night in the form of flocks for having contact with each other and to produce warmth and heat in their surrounding area. Their normal body temperature is 110 degrees Fahrenheit.
How to attract them in the backyard
Bird feeders having different fruits, seeds and insects are generally used to attract these birds in the backyard. If they find food somewhere they visit that place daily in search of food due to their in-build-clock. A fresh birdbath is also available near the feeder and is necessary to attract them to the gardens. They can easily attract to the area we require. They only need water, food, and shelter to live in any place.
They eat the same food as they require in the wild. Items like insects and caterpillars are also present in residential places and woods. They are more attracted by berries and fruits instead of insects. Feeders are having different types of seeds including sunflower seeds, peanuts, corns, almonds, safflower, suet, mealworms, almonds, and peanut butter. These tiny birds dig their claws in the flowers and enjoy their inside contents.
