Are you longing to see chickadees in your backyard or patio? Well, I am. Glancing at these birds will make you smile. What a delightful sight when you see them on branches of your trees or in your backyard.
Indeed, chickadees may flock in your yard. You just need to make your yard bird-friendly and provide some things to draw chickadees in your home. In this article, we would like to share some interesting facts on how to attract chickadees to your yard.
Contents
Where Do Chickadees Live
Chickadees are species of tit birds that are native to North America. They are small birds and about 6 to 14 centimeters in size.
They live in murky natural habitats like the grove of small trees. Also, they hide in thick vegetation and cannot even see other chickadees nearby. They just make calls to find each other.
They also love to sleep in dense shrubs and inside cavities or holes of trees. They feel protected in these places.
Meanwhile, when these birds are nesting, they will look for a hole in a tree that is about 3 to 21 feet above the ground. They will dig additional space if the hole is not deep to support their nest. If there are existing woodpecker nests, they will also occupy them for nesting.
There are about seven kinds of chickadees that breed and stay in North America. These include the Black-Capped Chickadee, Carolina Chickadee, Boreal Chickadee, Gray-Headed Chickadee, Chestnut-Backed Chickadee, Mexican Chickadee, Gray-Headed Chickadee, and Mountain Chickadee.
The black-capped chickadees live in deciduous giant flowering plants such as maples, oaks, and beeches. Also, they are found in mixed deciduous green forests and near cottonwoods and willows. They nest in birch and alder trees.
The official bird for Maine and Massachusetts is the black-capped chickadee. These chickadees are attracted to feeders, yards, patios, and baths in their respective areas.
Chickadees Favorite Foods
These small agile birds eat seeds, nuts, berries, and insects. They like berries such as blueberry, serviceberry, bayberry, and berries of poison.
They also love to eat black oil sunflower seeds, pine seeds, walnut, birch, ragweed, and hemlock. Also, they like peanut kernels, gray-striped sunflower seeds, suet, peanut butter mixes, and hulled sunflower seeds.
The chickadees eat one seed at a time. They will visit your feeder and take one seed and fly away. Then, they will perch and eat the seed.
How to Attract Chickadees in Your Yard
Surprisingly, these simple yet beautiful chickadees can visit your home always. The following are some ways that you can do to attract chickadees in your backyard.
Prepare their favorite food
Get a bird feeder or a tray and place their favorite food like black oil sunflower seeds, shelled peanuts, hulled sunflower seeds, and peanut butter. You may also use the hopper or tube feeders.
The suet, which is the hard fat of beef or lamb, is also their favorite food. You can place it on the bark of your trees or the fence post. You will notice chickadees will flock and enjoy eating this food.
Plant berry-producing shrubs, flowering trees, and sunflower
The chickadees love to eat insects. You may plant berry-producing shrubs, flowering trees, and sunflowers that will attract insects in your backyard. Indeed, you will see chickadees in your yard each day. Besides, they love to dine berries and sunflower seeds.
Provide shelter in your yard
One way to bring chickadees into your yard is by sheltering them. These birds like to stay and live in bushy evergreen shrubs that can protect them, and they can camouflage too.
You may also plant or buy a pre-grown conifer tree, which they like to be their home. Then, provide roosting boxes in the conifer tree. It will protect them during colder months and will make them warm. Also, they are attracted to dense areas of shrubs.
Conifer trees are plants that have cones. These include pine trees, yews, junipers and cypress, cedars, larches, redwoods, kauris, Douglas-firs, spruces, and firs.
Supply clean water
Chickadees like to visit bird baths, in which they can drink and take a bath. Be sure that you have birdbaths in your yard.
Also, they are attracted to moving water or drippers with quite a noise and splashes of water. You may also provide heated bird baths during winter or colder months.
Make sure that the baths are shallow because chickadees are small birds. If the baths are deep, they might drown. You may put gravel or rocks if the basin is deep.
Also, the provided water must be clean. Dirty waters may poison them and inflict diseases on them. You have to clean the baths always.
Provide nesting sites
Chickadees find holes in dead trees, and they nest. It refers to a cavity nest. A good nesting site for chickadees is birdhouses and boxes. You can make a birdhouse or put boxes near the feeders. Indeed, they will flock into your yard.
Meanwhile, if you want to build a birdhouse. It must be about eight inches in height and four or five square bases. The entrance hole is about 1 ⅛ inch. The birdhouse must be placed on a tree, pole, or wall about four to fifteen feet above the ground.
Conclusion
Seeing chickadees flocking in your yard is inspiring and wonderful. You will see beauty in simple things such as these amazing small birds.
It is easy to attract them, and you can even hand-feed them if you already have their trust in you. Also, follow any ways on how to attract chickadees mentioned above in this article. Indeed, you will see these birds flying and roaming around your backyard. Indeed, what a sight to see!
If you have any ideas about this topic, you may share them in the comment box below. We are pleased to read them.