Sunday, May 16, 2010

Nesting Chickadees


I am delighted to report that the chickadees have successfully nested in my nesting box!



I wasn't sure that they would choose my box because the house sparrows were determined to use it and were constantly sitting on the peg and chewing the wood trying to expand the small hole. I read in an older magazine that I bought recently at a garage sale, (I think it was Birds and Bloom), that you could discourage the sparrows from doing this by hanging something from the tree. It would spook the sparrows but the chickadees were brave and would still use the nest.

I decided to give that a try, taking the risk that it would scare off the chickadees too. It actually worked! The sparrows left it alone and finally the little chickadees could nest in peace.




The eggs have obviously hatched and the sweet little chickadees are very busy feeding their young.



Both the male and the female are frantically going back and forth to the nesting box.


I don't know how many mouths they have to feed. I read that the average clutch size is six and there can be as many as eight.


They must be feeding them suet because they go straight from the suet feeder to the box over and over and over. It is amazing to watch how many times they both go to the box with food! It is constant activity all day long.

I hope that I am able to see them when they leave the nest!

34 comments:

Lythrum said...

Congratulations on your new residents. :)

A Garden of Threads said...

Congratulations are in order, the babies are so cute once they leave the nest. They all have bad hair days. Have a great week:)

Angie said...

Oh how lucky you are that the sweet Chicadees are raising their babies in your nest box!! :) They are just the sweetest little birds...and I'm really glad you shared the tip about hanging something from the tree to scare the sparrows away. I have to share this one with my sister. :)

Patricia said...

What joy!

Unknown said...

Nothing more wonderful than hearing the little cheep, cheep of newly hatched birds in your own yard. Enjoy this fleeting time.

Lisa at Greenbow said...

How exciting to have Chickadees nesting in your garden. What a clever idea to discourage sparrows too. I will remember that. The sparrows have taken over the martin house here. It isn't in such a good place. I just wanted it for looks basically but I hate it to be an apartment house for sparrows and worse starling.

Gail said...

I am so glad you have a family in your nesting box~and that the towel works. I see chicadees in the garden and wonder where they nest. gail

Hilary said...

Very cool. I hope everything turns out well and that you'll continue to share.

Ruth's Photo Blog said...

Hooray for the Chickadees and for you.I must remember that trick about hanging something to keep the Sparrows away.
Blessings,Ruth

Kay said...

wonderful pics of the wee chickadees. I have starlings raising their young in our bathroom vent! We managed to plug up where they had been giving flight lessons in our attic years ago. The tack shed was a hanger for the robins! Today I saw some birds I hadn't seen before. They are bright yellow with black wings and red heads! But my bird books are up at my studio and I need to look them up. I have magpies, scrub jays, doves and gambels quail..enjoy your blog!

Tammy said...

I absolutely LOVE your bird photo's. The little chicadee's are so cute. I made the hole on my house small too, but so far havent seen anyone in it.

The Giraffe Head Tree said...

Outstanding! Good luck, Robin.

Anonymous said...

I have never seen chickadees in a nest box. I never thought about it before. Looks like these are doing fine. And your photo of the one flying out is really nice.

Lona said...

That little tip is a very good one to know because I have so many sparrows around here and I am afraid they will run the Bluebirds out. What is it carrying away from the nesting box? I have seen the Bluebirds carrying something white from my boxes. I wondered if they were just cleaning the nest? Great images Robin!
Lona

Suz said...

Thanks for the shirt trick...I wonder if it works on those nasty wrens....grabbing every box around

Joanne Olivieri said...

How absolutely precious and to catch one in flight is amazing!

Gardening in a Sandbox said...

My husband put up a bird house just one side of a flowerbed a few weeks ago. No sooner than he walked away from it a little chickadee flew right into it. They have been going in an out but have not seen any babies yet. Valerie

Pat said...

I'm so jealous !
We never get Chickadees in our houses. Mostly just Carolina Wrens.
Clever idea that worked...sooo cool.

CIELO said...

How very sweet.... and I love your turquoise ladder on the previous post... fabulous idea!

cielo

Rose said...

What adorable photos! I love the one of the chickadee poking its head out the hole of its house. They must be busy all day keeping those hungry mouths fed:)

Diana said...

Wow, Robin - what amazing photos. Isn't it so fun to watch them with their young? They must love their nice, new home. I have wrens trying to nest in my garage, so I have to keep the door shut all the time. I did have house finches in the cliff swallow nest and they left and now new cliff swallows are in there. I'll need to remove the nest when they are done to prevent bird disease spread. Love watching them feed and chirp and take care of their babies.

Q said...

It is always such a delight to see the birds nesting and raising young.
Your Chick-a-dee photographs are wonderful.
Sherry

Jayne said...

Wow Robin - wonderful photos! I'd love to have birds nesting in our garden. We have chickadees come and visit, but they nest in the tree next door I think.

Penny from Enjoying The Simple Things said...

What wonderful pictures! We had chickadees at our old house, but we have not seen any at our new one. We put up a bluebird feeder and house, because we saw all kinds of blue birds. They checked out the house but the Carolina wrens made it their home. Maybe next year the bluebirds will win.

Unknown said...

I never, EVER get tired of seeing chickadees, and your photos are splendid, as always. I've never seen a baby chickadee, as far as I know, so I'm excited for you too.

Anonymous said...

You must have a great zoom lens, you always capture those birdies so well. The rain is past, and we are in for sun and heat all week. My favorite!

Anonymous said...

I am so happy for the successful chickadee hatching, Robin! I had never heard of the hanging thingey before, but do know those chickadees are very brave with humans. Hooray! And thanks for the tip. Our problem IS the chickadees, they fight with the bluebirds for the house and always win. My husband wants bluebirds so put up another house, to join the many we already have, none have bluebirds in them. :-)
Frances

Kerri Farley said...

Hooray for nesting chickadees! I'm going to try that towel thing....never heard of that before!

marmee said...

really cool...i love when you get a new family of birds. so happy for you.
happy may.

Tatyana@MySecretGarden said...

What a good idea to hang something on the tree! Your photo shots are so good, Robin!The one before the last is great!

Sherri said...

Robin, I love that the chickadees nesting in your nesting box! I love the picture of the chickadee in flight from the box-just gorgeous!!

Anonymous said...

That is so neat Robin. So interesting about hanging something to discourage the sparrows ~ I've never heard that before but I'm definitely going to try it myself. I hope you get to see the babies fledge too.

Anonymous said...

Chickadees are probably the bravest bird in our garden. They are amazingly feisty little things! What fun to get to watch them nesting.

Eve said...

How sweet Robin. I like the hanging towel idea worked. You have a beautiful blog here!