Try telling your friends a specific UFC fighter is about to put the smackdown on you while only using three syllables - it isn’t easy.Ĭhickadees are non-migratory, meaning they are one of the few birds in our area that stick around during the winter - one of the reasons we see so many this time of year.Īs anyone with a down comforter knows, feathers do an incredible job of insulating heat. The chickadee predator call is so nuanced that people have observed the flock being able to report size, location and danger level of a particular predator against others using just those three unique syllables. This can be a good indicator for a backyard farmer like myself to be on the lookout for hawks, though it’s also possible the chickadees are calling because of you. The more “dee” sounds you hear at the end of a call, the more active and dangerous the predator. Chickadees will multiply the buzzing final “dee” syllable in their call numerous times to alert the flock of a nearby threat. Unique to chickadees is the modification they make to the call in the presence of predators. It’s fairly commonplace for most birds, most noticeable in domesticated ducks that are constantly quacking at one another. This is a complicated call that acts as a form of remote check-in, like military patrols over a radio. While I can’t tell the difference between two bird-bros flexing on each other, the difference to the chickadees is like listening to Ed Sheeran and Ozzy Osbourne having a rap battle.Īnother unique call is the one for which the bird is named: the “chick-a-dee” call. Each call is unique to the individual that makes it, like a fingerprint. Part of the call is to attract females, but it’s also a way of marking territory and trying to warn off other would-be alphas. It’s a complicated call loaded with nuance, as all chickadee calls are. It’s essentially a chickadee cat call, with which the alpha males of a flock try to attract a female as spring approaches. Sometimes it’s been called “cheeseburger” and, more aptly, “Hey, sweetie”. The call to which I’m referring is called the “fee-bee” call in chickadee-speak. To which I replied with a satisfied sigh: “Spring has arrived.” Well, at least it’s out there somewhere on the seasonal horizon. I was curious about these hardy hooligans when my wife went to start her car one morning and shouted, “These stupid birds sound like Negan from The Walking Dead! That’s scary!” I’ve personally seen two fluttering around the gnarled winter branches outside my home: the mountain chickadee and the black-capped chickadee. Idaho is home to no fewer than four species of chickadee. The famous “Cheese-burg-er” bird: the black-capped chickadee.
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