How to Identify the Black-Capped Chickadee

Video Transcript

"Hello, welcome to Expert Village. My name is Wayne Petersen, director of the Massachusetts Audubon Society Important Bird Areas Program and we’re here this afternoon at the Daniel Webster Wildlife Sanctuary in Marshville, Massachusetts. Next we’re going to talk about backyard birding, a place where everybody has an opportunity to get involved and where many people's interest in birding first begins. Well it may seem a little inappropriate to be talking about winter birds while we’re here in the bright sun and a grassy meadow, it none the less is the season that in fact is probably the one that most people associate with backyard bird feeding. There are lots of birds that will come to birdfeeders as we noted previously. But certainly one of the most popular and one of the most frequent at most feeders particularly where black oil sunflower seed is offered is the Massachusetts state bird the black capped chickadee. These small birds will come often in significant numbers to feeders where they’ll make countless trips back and forth taking a sunflower seed out of the feeder, flying up to a small branch often holding it between their feet and then hammering on it, cracking it open only to return shortly for another seed. Lots of personality these little black capped chickadees and as we have mentioned previously they actually derive their name from the fact that they say their name when they call. One of their common calls sounds like the phrase chickadee, chickadee deeee, very popular little birds and certainly one that we’re always welcome to have in the backyard at any season of the year."