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Carolina Chickadees: From First Egg to Empty Nest

© Brenda Muncrief

Carolina Chickadees are among the most gregarious of our backyard birds. They also are among the first species to nest in the spring. Three years ago in about February, I set up three nest boxes in my yard and waited to see what would happen. Very soon, I was delighted to find the beginnings of a Chickadee nest in my Gilbertson bluebird nestbox.

Carolina Chickadees and Black-capped Chickadees, build very meticulous cup-shaped nests, starting with a layer of moss, either in an excavated cavity or in a nestbox. The nest-building itself takes anywhere from a week to however long they decide to wait before laying the first egg. When looking for some information on the nest-building habits of chickadees, I went to Cornell University's Birdhouse Network site. There is a wealth of information there, but here's what they have to say about nest-building:

Nest Building: Although the nesting behavior of the Carolina Chickadee is very similar to that of the Black-capped Chickadee, Carolina Chickadees tend to rely less on the presence of natural cavities and old woodpecker holes than its northern relative. Rather, it excavates its own cavities in snags, rotting tree trunks, and limbs for nesting purposes. This species also occasionally nests in nest boxes, but not as frequently as the Black-capped Chickadee.

The male and female work together to excavate the nest cavity, which takes around two weeks, but only the female builds the nest. The nest has a moss base and a cup made of grass, plant down, and feathers. The female lines the nest with finer materials such as fine grass, fur, and hair.

Once the nest is built and the first egg is laid, the fun begins. I monitored the first nesting of Chickadees from start to finish so that I had good documentation of the process, complete with photos. When the five nestlings had fledged, there was one lone egg left in the box which had never hatched. Please have a look at my Webshots album which contains photos from first egg to empty nest. It can be very stressful to monitor nestboxes, because not all the stories have happy endings like this batch of young Dees.

Carolina Wrens also nest yearly in our yard. They built a nest on the top of one of our porch ceiling support columns about five years ago and have used it every year since. Two years ago, there were three eggs in the nest, and the adult female was in the nest late one night (apparently laying a fourth egg) when a rat snake slithered up the column or came over the roof of the house and raided the nest. Needless to say, there was no happy ending to that story. Predator guards are crucial-I have predator guards on all my nestboxes except for that particular wren nest. I have found no way to successfully protect it, but that one incident is also the only devastating event that has occurred.