Carolina Chickadee - Song Bird In An Indiana Garden Habitat © 2006

Carolina Chickadee

Paridae carolinensis

These song birds are pretty common here in southeastern Indiana. They inhabit our bird feeder in fairly large numbers. The birds are kind of tame, tolerating my presence within a few feet of the feeder. We burn wood to heat our home, and as I cut trees I don’t burn the brush. I pile it and leave it near the margins of the woodland. In cold weather, especially if there is snow, the birds may be heard chirping gently in the brush piles as they take refuge there. This provides ideal habitat for the Carolina chickadee, as it needs the brushy areas to breed and feed in.

Chickadees are easy to attract to feeders. There is not a large difference in the appearance of the two sexes, both are marked similar. The birds do not migrate, so will inhabit your garden year round. They will nest in nest boxes or bird houses which are suitably placed. Their eggs are speckled, the young birds colored similarly to the adults.

Carolina Chickadees are friendly birds which will be good neighbors if you manage to attract them to your garden. Their food consists of what is available seasonally. They will consume insects in the summer and fall, seeds in the winter months. They usually hang out with related birds, the titmouse, and another beneficial song bird to have in the garden.

Watching the Carolina chickadee as it feeds can be quite entertaining. They will hang upside down under limbs, watching for insects. Hard shelled seeds, like sunflowers, they will hammer with their stout beaks to open. And they will hide seeds, for future use.

The Carolina chickadee is a very beneficial, entertaining bird, well worth the effort it takes to provide food and habitat for it to be attracted to your garden. If you can’t provide brush piles, then thick, shrubby groundcovers like cotoneaster will provide both food and cover for these nice song birds. Cotoneaster develops berries which persist into winter, and these berries will be food for the chickadee. The bird is a common sight here in Indiana.

Top Of Page