Our Black-Capped Chickadees are starting to hoard food for the winter, when they will consume up to 10 times what they consume in summer.
There are seven native Chickadee species in North America, but the Black-Capped is our most common as well as our State Bird.
All Chickadees get their last name from their usual call: “Chicka-Dee,” which they vary based on circumstance. “Chicka-Dee” and “Chicka-Dee-Dee” usually mean they’re happy. The more “Dees” at the end, the more worried the birds are. Usually, the addition of five or more such suffixes (“Chicka-Dee-Dee-Dee- Dee- Dee!“) means that the bird is frantic due to the approach of a predator, such as a cat or a bird hawk. (Brooklin, Maine)