Saturday, February 12, 2011

Black-capped Chickadees of the Vermilon River A Post to Camera-Critters






Probably the most ubiquitous bird of our forest, these little fellows remain favourites of both Boom and I. I've written about the chickadee before, but I found some new information to pass onto you, some of which is very disturbing.

The Chickadee moves in flocks which are composed of other birds such as hatches or warblers, because the Chickadees vocalizations are highly developed, and food calls make it easy to find food for the other birds, as well as allowing them to remain alert to predators.This is likely an adaption that has occurred from their habitat which is dense forest where sight is limited. Chickadees have a social hierarchy based on aggressiveness. So be careful around them because you don't know where the the big tough one is.

They reduce their body temperatures at night by 10-12 degrees to conserve energy.

The States of Washington, and Massachusetts, and the Province of New Brunswick have chosen the Chickadee as their state bird.

Now the CONCERN: An "agent" is causing substantial misshapen beaks in these little fellows as well as other birds in Alaska, Washington and the pacific north west.The list of other birds is substantial and I have this terrible feeling we, meaning humans, have messed up again, especially in view of  the ecological record of this area.You can see the problem and the other birds and report any problems you have seen at:

http://alaska.usgs.gov/science/biology/landbirds/beakdeformity/index.html/

or go to:
 http://enwikipedia.org/wiki/Black-capped_Chickadee/

And go to the bottom of the page and click on the Alaskan state site as given.

A Post to Camera-critters @ http://camera-critters.blogspot.com/

21 comments:

  1. Beautiful photographs. Chickadees are so full of personality!

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  2. I've always loved the chickadees... horrible to hear about the beak deformity...thanks for sharing the link so I can follow up on it for my classes!

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  3. You got so close. Adorable shots!

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  4. Great shots of the sweet little chick-a-dees, they are such polite birds at the feeder, grabbing a seed and taking it elsewhere to eat it.

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  5. Such cute little birds. You have captured them well :)

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  6. Very similar bird to our Coal Tit in the UK. Our Coal tits favour pine/spruce trees. I am fortunate to have a pair nesting in the garden

    Cheers for the links,,, I will read up
    on the unfortunate beak malformations

    Dave

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  7. Chickadees are such wonderful birds to watch and capture through the lens ... great photos

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  8. Sweet chickadees, Gary. I almost posted chickadees this week too. :)

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  9. Chickadees have got to be the worlds favorite little bird. So sad about the beaks malformation in some areas...so glad to see your little guy is ok. Will be reading the link...thanks for sharing.
    BlessYourHearts
    Hi Boomer!

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  10. very nice

    thanks for sharing.

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  11. Hi Misty. Thanks for the visit and comments.

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  12. Hi John and thanks for the visit.

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  13. Hi IGW and they sure are starved.

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  14. Great photos -- I always love the chickadees that come to visit our backyard -- so much personality and energy! That's really sad about the beak deformity, I hope something can be done to prevent it from getting worse/spreading -- I would hate to lose such cute birds as chickadees!

    I have birds for my Camera Critters meme this week also :-)

    Marie
    bonkersinbarnhart.com

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  15. Nice captures, these little guys seem to have no fear of humans. I have noticed that when they are around so are the nuthatches.

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  16. Hi Marie and thanks for the visit.The pacific NW is under ecological stress and things will continue to worsen in the area.

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  17. Thanks Rajesh for the visit and the continuing tour of your country.

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  18. These little guys are in touch with the nuthatches; isn't that amazing, Martha?

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  19. Thanks for the visit twobarking dogs.

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