[obol] Black-capped Chickadee nest cleaning behavior

[Dennis P. Vroman]

Once observed an Oak Titmouse at our place removing items from a nesting box at the time of year no nesting would be occurring.  This was a surprise to me, but perhaps it's more common that we think.  Most folks just watch the comings and goings at nesting boxes while nesting is taking place.

Also, Titmice, Chickadees, Bluebirds and likely others will use nesting boxes for shelter during the winter-time months.  Perhaps removing material is related to use during this time of the year.

Dennis (north of Grants Pass)

  ted schroeder wrote: 
    Hi OBOLers,



    Today I observed a pair of Black-capped Chickadees picking up sunflower seeds and taking them up into the nearest tree to work them over, as they do, so they ccould extract the meat and eat it.  This reminded me that I had not cleaned the nest box in which they, or another pair, had produced a brood last spring/summer.  Last year I had seen them entering and/or leaving the nest box over an extended period of time and eventually, I had watched them repeatedly delivering food into the nest box with surprisingly short turnarounds of 5-10 minutes on at least two different days and then a week or so later they were feeding fledglings outside the nest box in the same tree and in an adjacent tree.  However, when I opened the box today there was no nesting material present, just some fine fecal debris as is left when I clean the nesting material out of the boxes used by Tree Swallows or Western Bluebirds.  So, do chickadees clean their nest sites?  Sibley in The Sibley Guide to Bird Life & Behavior states “The pair (parids) either cleans out the preexisting cavity of an old site or excavates a new one; the female usually chooses the nest site.”  He doesn’t refer to removal of prior nesting material specifically so I’m not sure if the statement supports what I seem to have observed, namely, that they appeared to have cleaned out the previous years nesting material, presumably, in anticipation of building a new nest for this season.  If there is anyone out there with experience with Black-capped Chickadee nesting who can shed some light on this question of whether they actually do clean out the prior year’s nesting material, I would appreciate your input.



    Thank you.



    Ted------------------------La Grande
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