Posted December 5, 2020
It’s still warm here and we’ve had steady, almost pleasant, rain all morning. Yet, lately, our Black-Capped Chickadees seem to be starting to store seeds. Some old-timers say that this means that things are going to start to get cold and nasty soon.
These birds get their family name from their complaints, which the one shown here is doing. They sound like a kazoo playing “chick-a-dee-dee-dee.” The more “dees” at the end, the more alarmed or annoyed the bird is. A frantic and repeated five-dee complaint might mean that a hawk is nearby.
Of course. this species of Chickadee, the state bird of Maine and Massachusetts, gets its first name from the black cap that it likes to wear pulled down over the ears.
(Brooklin, Maine; Leighton Archive images used)