#chickadees — Public Fediverse posts

By controlling the food sources available to individual birds, and conducting DNA tests on all hatchlings in 350 nest boxes for three years, researchers found that female mountain chickadees preferentially choose males with better spatial cognition skills for extra-pair matings.

Summary: https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1132331

Original paper: https://elifesciences.org/reviewed-preprints/110905

#Science #Evolution #SexualSelection #Chickadees #Birds

#SilentSunday

#EllieKPosts
#birds #chickadees #bloomScrolling

Suddenly guessed that #MerlinApp might have another use.

It had just identified chickadees as singing nearby, so I selected the chickadee ID, turned up my volume, and played its sample calls.

Well, instant chickadee central! One even landed on my outstretched fingers. Had never experienced that before!

#chickadees

Hop!

#BlackCappedChickadee #chickadees #birbs #BirdsOfMastodon

I love this photo because you can see a chickadee perched above the owl, screaming, which is how I notice owls 90% of the time

#birds #owls #chickadees

I went on a photowalk with a local photography group in a wooded park. Someone brought birdseed and the #birds were fearlessly landing on him and eating out of his hand. When he asked if anyone else wanted to try, I said yesss!

I held seeds and experienced absolute joy when they landed on me and ate. I think these are #chickadees?

Haven't been to the nearby natural area in a while, it felt a lot more thick in there than the last time we were there. Probably because we've had some pretty decent rain this year.

Took a nice walk in the forest. Fed some chickadees. Feeling pretty good now.

Also saw some downy woodpeckers, white-breasted nuthatches, and some yellow-rumped warblers.

#yeg #yegBirds #yegParks #chickadee #chickadees #photography #birds #birding #BirdWatching

Stay Back or I Jump

I was watching these Carolina chickadees a couple of days ago. There were actually three of them, though I couldn’t quite get the third in the frame. Two kept trying to get close to the one perched highest on the limb, but that bird kept shifting away, just out of reach. I couldn’t help wondering what was playing out. My best guess? The two were fledglings, trying to cozy up to a parent—maybe hoping for food or just some reassurance.

Step into a world where even the smallest moments—like the glint in a bird's eye—tell their own story.

https://swede1952-photographs.pixels.com

#photo #photography #photographer #photographylovers #wildlife #nature #bird #birds #birding #birdwatching #birdphotography #chickadees #CarolinaChickadees

Today is a very rainy day in Tofino, but I decided to still go out looking for birbs, and I’m happy to report I was successful!

#BirdPhotography #birds #birbs #chickadees #warblers #robins #bc

Most songbird species have complex songs and fairly simple calls. This is why vocalizations sound most melodic during the spring, when birds are attracting mates and breeding.

Chickadees, however, are unusual in that they sing very simple songs relative to the complexity of their calls.

✍️ Sofia Marie Haley writes for @TheConversationUS

https://theconversation.com/mountain-chickadee-chatter-scientists-are-decoding-the-songbirds-complex-calls-247091

#ScienceMastodon #Chickadees

A pair of Mountain Chickadees on the tray feeder.

That little eyebrow adds so much personality, and they are just a bit bigger and a lot more quiet than the other two chickadee species we see.

I think they're my favorite 🥰

#birds #birding #chickadees

Here’s how the #BirdFlu is affecting nesting colonies in Maine

Wildlife questions answered by #MaineAudubon Staff Naturalist Doug Hitchcox.

February 14, 2025

Excerpt:
"Remember that #AvianInfluenza spreads via feces, saliva and mucus, which is why it spreads faster among birds in very close quarters (especially poultry in this country, hence the need for flock owners to take protective measures). #Ducks and #geese make up most of the cases in wild birds, but we are also seeing it show up in some of the predators or species that feed on the carcasses of sick birds, like #hawks, #eagles, #crows and #vultures. What we consider the 'backyard birds,' like #chickadees and #woodpeckers, are very unlikely to contract avian influenza, so there is no need to stop feeding those birds or take down bird feeders. You should always keep your feeders clean, but this is a good time to be extra vigilant with regular cleanings and also protect yourself from exposure. Avoid contact with a sick or dead wild bird. If you do have a report of a sick or dead wild bird, call Maine Inland Fisheries and Wildlife at 207-287-8000 or 800-452-4664, or report it online. (More info: mefishwildlife.com)

"Think about the things you can do to help birds around your yard, be it during an avian influenza outbreak or not. Keeping your cats indoors is the best thing you can do, then treat your windows to break up reflections and reduce strikes. Support the next generation of birds with native plants: bird seed helps us see wild birds, while #NativePlants sustain them."

Read more:
https://www.pressherald.com/2025/02/14/how-is-avian-influenza-affecting-wild-birds-in-maine/

Archived version:
https://archive.md/9XpLH
#HPAINews #Maine #GardeningForBirds #BirdFlu #HPAI

🌎 Black-capped chickadee (Poecile atricapillus) #NorthAmericanBirds | #BlackCappedChickadee | #Chickadees #ChickadeeFamily #TitFamily #PerchingBirds 📷: Photo by JackBulmer🦜 #birdsoftheworld #birds

“Emmmm… natures cotton candy!” #chickadees #bird #birds #birding #birdphotography #birbs #FeatheredFrens #snacks #cute #adorable #funny #humor

A red-breasted nuthatch gives me the "sup?". A black-capped chickadee looks like it's posing for the photo. A red-winged blackbird looks scrungly. And a dark-eyed junco eyes its next seed delivery.

#nuthatches #chickadees #blackbirds #RedWingedBlackbird #DarkEyedJunco #juncos #BirdsOfMastodon #birbs

Black-capped and Mountain chickadees visiting our deck

#birds #birding #chickadees

Great article about #Chickadees sent to me by a friend...

A Black-Capped Brain

https://drydenwire.com/news/natural-connections-a-black-capped-brain/

This is incredible! ...

"Chickadees cache as many as one hundred thousand food items per year...To support such an incredible memory, chickadees grow 30 percent more neurons in the fall when caching behavior peaks. Then, as they empty out their cache locations, the neurons encoding that information wither away, and their brain shrinks toward spring. The title of a 2014 article by Kozlovsky, et. al. says it all: “Chickadees with bigger brains have smaller digestive tracts.” Chickadees, especially ones who live in the coldest and most variable habitats, have figured out how to eat smarter, not bigger. That could easily be my New Year’s resolution."

#Birds #Memory #Neuroscience

The little flock has been here a lot today with a fresh three or so inches of snow everywhere. They've become so confiding.

The Chestnut-backed are very vocal, almost always giving out a little "peep" when they land on the rail before grabbing a seed. They're also very whistle-y in their calls in the trees; they remind me a lot of the Tufted Titmice back home.

#birds #birding #chickadees

The first bird at my new feeder camera! What a fun Christmas present. Hopefully it can withstand the killer squirrels in our yard.

#birds #wildbirds #chickadees #mnastodon #BirdsOfFediverse #birdsofmastodon #birdfeederaction #birdfeeders

I want to live in the woods and have #chickadees land on me all day. They can sew some clothing for me, too.

Bird of the Day — Chestnut-backed Chickadee, California 2024
Elfin

#Nature #NaturePhotography #Birds #Wildlife #NatureCommunity #Photography #BirdsOfMastodon #BirdPhotography #BirdWatching #California #Chickadees

Mountain chickadees songs provide real-time evidence for #Darwin's character displacement theory https://phys.org/news/2024-10-mountain-chickadees-songs-real-evidence.html

Olivia Taylor et al.: #Chickadees sing different songs in sympatry versus allopatry https://academic.oup.com/jeb/advance-article-abstract/doi/10.1093/jeb/voae114/7816139

"closely related species with overlapping habitats tend to diverge in traits—such as appearance and call—to reduce competition or costly #hybridization between different species."

Chickadee research finds cognitive skills impact lifespan

https://phys.org/news/2024-09-chickadee-cognitive-skills-impact-lifespan.html
#birds #neuroscience #behavior #cognition #chickadees