Black Capped Chickadee

Black-capped Chickadees have many things going for them. I shall make a list:

1. They hide seeds/food to eat later. They can remember thousands of hiding places. THOUSANDS. I can’t remember how to spell the word “decisions” (I had to look it up).
2. They don’t migrate. This means they don’t have to stop the newspaper delivery.
3. They talk to each other. Their call, “chick-a-dee” is one of the most complex in the whole of animal kind. They can convey a variety of messages just by varying this call.
4. They are curious, active and acrobatic.
5. They have giant heads which is cute.
6. In the Fall, their brains let go of all information (like the whereabouts of old seeds) that isn’t needed to make room for new neurons. So imagine being able to erase clutter in your head, like combinations to locks that you’ve lost, the name of your pre-school lunch lady, outdated addresses, to make room for new stuff. It’s called “neuronal replacement.”
7. They are monogamous and mate for life.
8. They really like Radiohead.

Listen: http://www.birdjam.com/birdsong.php?id=12

 

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