Chickadee Bird House

About Chickadees

In this article, you’ll learn how to build or buy the right Chickadee Bird House.

Chickadee is the well-known name for the North American representative of a group of small, engaging birds seen around the temperate regions of North America, Asia, and Europe.

Most Chickadees have nearly a height of 4 to 6 inches. They have muscular bodies, comparatively large heads, and small, hairy bills. Most are either brown or gray but are frequently marked with white, black, or chestnut.

Chickadees are active species that regularly hop about in the external branches of trees. They particularly like making short flights from tree to tree or clinging upside down to a twig.

They are all-year-round inhabitants in the North, unlike most songbirds that leave for the South each fall. This small bird can notably survive long, cold winters because of its much denser plumage and ability to put on fat quickly in daylight and then burning it up at night.

You can witness several species of Chickadees in North America, but the common one is the Black-capped. It gets to a height of nearly 5 inches. A Black-capped Chickadee’s body is olive-gray with a cap and beautiful white outer edges of the wing and black bill.

These birds are essential to human beings. They perform a vital role in the natural environment by depending on insects, including those regarded as forest pests. They also bring eternal joy to bird watchers.

  • Black Capped Chickadee

About Chickadee Bird Houses

Inviting Chickadees in winter may be as easy as placing up a bird feeder with some Black-oil Sunflower seed.

These lively little birds need to feed daily. With some patience and an excellent winter coat, it’s possible to encourage these birds to eat from your hand.

If you want these songbirds to nest in your backyard, try installing a well-constructed Chickadee bird house on a tree, and you may have them raising young at your home.

These species are cavity nesters, and you will find their nest in forests, woodlots, and yards with mature trees. Planting alder, willow, and birch trees will allow them with future nesting sites. They may use the wooden bird houses in winter for roosting on frigid nights.

Place any Chickadees bird house at the height of 4-15 feet. Put some wood chips in the nesting box to encourage them to nest. They will not use the wood chips, but this may benefit from attracting them to the nest box.

With patience, not only birders learn how to draw Chickadees, but they can also enjoy the everyday company of familiar visitors that are curious, playful, and perky. These are wonderful birds to welcome at your bird houses and feeders.

Size Of Chickadee Bird Houses

When creating a bird house for the Chickadee, it would be best to make use of Red Cedar. Keep the floor area around 4 x 4 inches and the height of 9 inches (inside), as it will provide enough space for birds to move freely.

The diameter of the entrance hole should be around 1 1/8 inches. The entrance hole should be placed 7 inches from the house floor to the top of the hole. A lower hole will not offer enough protection from predators and weather.

Desirable nesting box features include:

● Thick walls constructed of untreated wood for insulation.

● An extended and sloped roof to keep out the rain.

● Holes for ventilation and drainage.

● A baffle to keep out snakes, raccoons, house cats, and other predators that steal chicks and eggs. One of the most suitable baffles can be made from a length of stovepipe.

If you have more than one house, make sure they are at enough distance, as the Chickadees could get a little territorial.

Chickadee Bird House Maintenance

The maintenance of the nest box is as essential as picking the right house for the Chickadee.

Before we head to the house for proper cleaning, it’s necessary to install your Chickadee house perfectly. It would be best to mount this bird house on a tree, wall, or post, which provides partial shade.

Once you finish Chickadee house and start noticing them getting near your field, it’s still essential to regularly check your home to ensure no other birds have taken over.

If cats continue being an obstacle, you can order commercial repellents to discourage unwanted cats.

At the start of October, it’s an excellent opportunity to draw down your birdhouse kits for proper sanitization and restrict other birds from taking over.

Primarily, remove all the nesting material from the nesting box and brush off every trash from the sides of the wall. Ensure you are wearing gloves while removing old nesting stuff and placing it into a sealable garbage bag.

Next, use a cleansing solution and clean the outer area and core of every hole. Once it’s entirely washed out, place it in sunlight for a day or two until it’s dry.

Building or Buying Chickadee Bird Houses

Building a birdhouse kit for kids can be one of the fun ways for them to learn about nature and stay entertained simultaneously. Here are some of the Chickadee bird house plans you can buy or build.

DIY: Simple Birdhouse Plan: You can make this DIY house from only two pieces of wood using nothing more complex than a screwdriver, handsaw, and drill. A power saw will hurry things up but isn’t required. No unusual angles to cut with this basic yet functional plan.

Swinging Wren-Chickadee Birdhouse: Chickadees like swinging bird houses. The swinging Chickadee house
has two brass screw eyes in the top peak for hanging from a tree limb or post with chain, wire, or rope. Ventilation holes are dug in the floor, and a perch is included in the front panel below the entrance opening.

Woodlink Chickadee Birdhouse: This decorative Chickadee house plan is also valuable for its design. It includes ventilation, drainage holes, and an easy-open side panel for effortless cleaning. It is constructed of western and inland red cedar. The roof is coated with green, harmless exterior latex paint.

Chickadee Nests in Bird Houses

Chickadees start searching potential nest sites in late January or early February in areas where the weather is warm and sunny.

Chickadees are cavity nesters, usually choosing a nesting site in a rotted part of a tree, mainly in snags, stubs, and rotted out knotholes in woodlands and forests. They may use nest boxes or old woodpecker holes.

They can also excavate their nest cavities for themselves in soft rotting wood. It takes 7-10 days for Chickadees to dig a new hole of around 5 inches deep. While digging, they take the wood chips away from the site to avoid attracting predators.

The construction of the nest may take up to 3-15 days. Only the female makes the nest and starts with a coarse material like pine needles, moss, or strips of bark as a foundation.

Then she lines it with softer material such as fur, wool, hair, cottony fibers, insect cocoons, or feathers.

After 1-2 days of nest completion, the female starts laying one egg per day, up to 6-8 eggs total. When the female Chickadee leaves the nest, you may find her covering the eggs with a “blanket” or fur plug of nesting stuff.

The eggs hatch within 12-13 days, and the young chicks leave the nest within 14-18 days.

You can set goals to bird-watch for these Chickadees after you have placed your bird house in your backyard and record your results.

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