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My experience of chickadees is that while they are very bold and are willing to
come quite close to humans for food, I wouldn't describe them as friendly. I
don't think they generally form a relationship with humans beyond "feed me!" I
think they are found near humans so often (e.g., in backyards) because they are
so willing to take advantage of the food we provide. And I think a chickadee
coming close to a human or other large animal is pretty safe and not stupid,
considering that they are so small and fast and hard to catch. I don't think
anything bigger than a sharp-shinned hawk is regularly able to catch chickadees.
As for identifying individuals, I've noticed that chickadees often have
different markings on their bib patch. There have been several chickadees I've
seen over the years that were distinct enough to identify reliably. For example,
one had a really straight lower border and two white-speckled patches in the
bib. If you can't identify them based on their appearance, I think you're out of
luck.
Bird-marking dyes do exist, but (correct me if I'm wrong, list) I don't think
it's legal for anyone to mark wild birds in any way without a research permit.
Kathleen MacAulay
Milford Station
________________________________
From: Annabelle Thiebaux <hamst@xplornet.com>
To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca
Sent: Fri, November 5, 2010 7:39:49 AM
Subject: [NatureNS] a question
Since the mammal questions I have sent remain unanswered I want to ask a bird
question about Chickadees. Actually more than one question. Are they really
people friendly or are they stupid or can they just not see, or is there another
reason for their being around so much? Is there a way of telling them
individually apart? The only individual I can tell is the banded one when I see
the band, perhaps there is a dye which is safe for the others?
--0-1976881248-1288956975=:95340
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<html><head><style type="text/css"><!-- DIV {margin:0px;} --></style></head><body><div style="font-family:verdana,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:10pt">My experience of chickadees is that while they are very bold and are willing to come quite close to humans for food, I wouldn't describe them as friendly. I don't think they generally form a relationship with humans beyond "feed me!" I think they are found near humans so often (e.g., in backyards) because they are so willing to take advantage of the food we provide. And I think a chickadee coming close to a human or other large animal is pretty safe and not stupid, considering that they are so small and fast and hard to catch. I don't think anything bigger than a sharp-shinned hawk is regularly able to catch chickadees.<br><br>As for identifying individuals, I've noticed that chickadees often have different markings on their bib patch. There have been several chickadees I've seen over the years that were
distinct enough to identify reliably. For example, one had a really straight lower border and two white-speckled patches in the bib. If you can't identify them based on their appearance, I think you're out of luck. <br><br>Bird-marking dyes do exist, but (correct me if I'm wrong, list) I don't think it's legal for anyone to mark wild birds in any way without a research permit.<br><br>Kathleen MacAulay<br><div>Milford Station<br></div><div style="font-family: verdana,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br><div style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><font size="2" face="Tahoma"><hr size="1"><b><span style="font-weight: bold;">From:</span></b> Annabelle Thiebaux <hamst@xplornet.com><br><b><span style="font-weight: bold;">To:</span></b> naturens@chebucto.ns.ca<br><b><span style="font-weight: bold;">Sent:</span></b> Fri, November 5, 2010 7:39:49 AM<br><b><span style="font-weight: bold;">Subject:</span></b> [NatureNS] a
question<br></font><br>Since the mammal questions I have sent remain unanswered I want to ask a bird question about Chickadees. Actually more than one question. Are they really people friendly or are they stupid or can they just not see, or is there another reason for their being around so much? Is there a way of telling them individually apart? The only individual I can tell is the banded one when I see the band, perhaps there is a dye which is safe for the others?<br></div></div>
</div><br></body></html>
--0-1976881248-1288956975=:95340--
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