The Cornell Lab of Ornithology says this on their web page: The Black-capped Chickadee is a bird almost universally considered “cute” thanks to its over-sized round head, tiny body, and curiosity about everything.
In other words, they look like human babies! No wonder we like them. Chickadees are friendly, and they seem to like hanging around watching people. They also make lots of cute noises. I was working outside a couple of weeks ago, and a chickadee flew out of this birdhouse right over my head. I thought, that's not a good idea, kiddo. It's just a flimsy old ornamental "chair" about 3 feet high, and unsuitable for a safe nest in any way, shape or form. Flying predators have the yard under surveillance and the occasional cat strolls through. But the chickadee just flew a few feet away and then looked me right in the eye. I told her to think carefully about it.
Well, they didn't listen and went ahead and built a nest in there. Now I can sometimes see her tiny round face and beady eyes peering out, so I assume she's sitting on eggs. I'm trying to avoid the area-- and it gives me gives an excuse to put off weeding that bed.
Even though the chair is useless, whoever built the birdhouse tacked on top must have drilled the hole precisely right for chickadees. It's too small for house sparrows, and besides, they're too smart to pick a nest site that dumb. I guess that's why there are hundreds of house sparrows on every city block in Seattle, and not so many chickadees.
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