Black-capped chickadee eating a spider


The one bird species that I (probably) have more photos of than any other is the black-capped chickadee.  Their precocious nature and comfort around humans make them ideal birds for the photographer.  They are easily fed by hand (not something I generally recommend, but I have done so a few times) and will readily take to feeders.  I have photographed them at and around home and abroad.  Although they are not colourful, they are always welcome visitors in any setting.

Black-capped chickadees are omnivores, that is they eat both plant and animal material.  In the winter, they forage along branches and cracks in search of hibernating or pupating insects, egg masses, and any other invertebrate fodder they can glean.  They will take seeds of all types and sizes; I love watching them hammer on a sunflower seed to get to the inner kernel.  In the warmer months, they forage for living insects as a protein source for the brood they are raising.

Black-capped chickadees do not migrate and remain in northern climates throughout the entire year.  I hear their familiar "chick-a-dee" song throughout the year and, during breeding, their two-whistle call "a long high note followed by a long low note).  I have had chickadees nest in birdhouses I have built, creating a 1-⅛ inch hole for them will keep out larger birds such as house sparrows and starlings.  

I photographed the above bird at Clifford E. Lee Park in Alberta with my Nikon D500, a TC14 III teleconverter and a Nikon 500mm PF f/5.6 telephoto. The crop sensor and teleconverter gave me a relative focal length of 1050 mm (~21x magnification).  I find the system works well for static images but there is a problem when trying to use 3D focusing as the f/8 minimum aperture is probably too small for it to work properly.  

Thanks for reading.

Eric Svendsen     www.ericspix.com

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