I setup a new bird feeding area in the front yard and it took some time for the birds to get used to it being there. But once they found it, they had a feast. One of the visitors was this very nice Black-capped Chickadee. Chickadees hide seeds and other food items to eat later. Each item is placed in a different spot and they can remember thousands of hiding places. I certainly do not have that talent…
Chickadee calls are complex and language-like. They communicate information on identity, recognition of other flocks and predator alarms. The more “dee” notes in a “chickadee-dee-dee” call, the higher the threat level. Most birds that associate with chickadee flocks respond to chickadee alarm calls, even when their own species doesn’t have a similar alarm call. All I ever hear is the chirping but I guess there is a lot more going on than I’m aware of.
This image was taken with my Canon EOS 5DS using my Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 Lens with a 1.4x extender which brought the focus length to 560 mm (400mm x 1.4). The camera was set on Aperture priority mode with the aperture set at f/8, shutter speed at 1/640th of a second and the ISO set at 200. This is a single image processed in Lightroom.
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© 2015 T. Kahler Photography