Birds in New Jersey 2015
April 2015 - Black-capped chickadees adopt one of our nesting boxes!
19 April
We've spotted a chickadee near the birdhouse, and even leaving and/or entering the house.
Will they build a nest inside, or reject it? A bunch of woodchips had been placed inside the nestbox. Chickadees
like to clean house first before moving in; supposedly they'll reject a nestbox that doesn't have something
to clean out.
To my delight, there was little circle of moss on the bottom of the nestbox. All of the woodchips had been removed.
Five days later, 24 April. We haven't seen any activity. Was the nest abandoned?
No! Many, many trips by a little bird had built up a deep cushion of material, topped by soft downy fluff: feathers? fur?
The nest reached up to just below the top notch.
Two days later, 26 April: I tapped gently on the nesting box, and after a pause, a black-capped chickadee flew out. The husband
and wife chickadees perched on the tree next to the nest. Then the male flew away, leaving the female to look intently at the
large mammal who had disturbed her nest.
The nest was now higher than the top notch.
Away from the entrance, there was a deep depression in the nesting material; a deep cavity in which to lay the eggs.
The side door was closed up. Then I looked intently at the mother chickadee, who looked a bit rounder than usual, and she
looked intently back.
It looks like there will be some baby chickadees in our yard this spring!