EXPLORING NATURE: CAROLINA CHICKADEE

I have two birds who are year-round residents at my place — black-crested titmouse and Carolina chickadee.

Day in and day out, summer heat and winter cold, they are there, consistent, comforting and cherished.

The Carolina chickadee is a small bird about four inches long and weighs about the same as one AAA battery or five pennies.

There are seven species of chickadees: gray-headed (the rarest chickadee in North America), Mexican, boreal, chestnut-backed, mountain, black-capped and Carolina.

The black-capped is the most widespread, but the Carolina is most common in central Texas. (I once saw a mountain chickadee in the Big Bend area.)

I have watched these little birds carry sunflower seeds from my feeder and fly up on a nearby tree branch where they proceed to hold the seed beneath one foot while pecking it open with a short, stubby bill. Meanwhile, a northern cardinal perches on the same feeder and casually opens the seeds with its big beak and chows down with no fuss or bother.

In addition to seeds, chickadees eat insects, spiders and berries. They nest in tree cavities and will also adapt to nest boxes.

I am delighted at my little chickadees — I hope they never desert me.