Behaviours of chickadees

After mating, male and female chickadees both excavate nest cavities in the soft rotting wood in the shags of trees, or make nests in abandoned woodpecker holes. They seem to be quite comfortable in rotting areas of trees or abandoned homes of other birds... (ewww???) They also are fine with bird houses filled with wood shavings and/or a little sprinkle of mulch. The females build the nest and fill the nest with 1-13 eggs. When she gets settled in, the male's job is to bring her food, and of course, like us humans, both parents take part in raising their cute and tiny and adorable little baby chickadees. These chickadees also change their feeding and territorial behaviours to adapt and survive the cold winters. They are known to alter their vocalization, flocking behaviour, breeding territories, fodd sources and caching storages over time.

Chickadees have physiological and ecological adaptations for winter survival, such as nocturnal hypothermia, (I know, it's weird, but it's when birds drop their body temperature at night during the colder months to preserve energy.) thermogenesis, (this is also a strange word, but it's when birds shiver to raise their body temperatures.) looking for food at lower heights-closer to the ground- for wind protection, and caching, storing and hiding in autumn to eat later- during the harsh, winter months.

The mating habits of these birds are minimal. While the males will chase other males from their territory and some mate feeding may be observed, there is no real major Chickadee courtship display.

Pairs generally break from the small winter flocks that have been feeding together through the cold months and begin selecting mates.

These birds can be very friendly and are rarely bothered by a humans presence. In fact, many bird watchers have been able to hand feed these little birds, especially during winter.

The nesting season is from April through June, which makes sense, but of course, I guess it means that there no such thing as winter babies in the world of chickadees. (which is sad of course, but it only takes like, 12-13 days for the eggs to start hatching.

Sorry, I guess I got carried away, these birds are really interesting.