8 Black-capped Chickadee Calls EXPLAINED

chickadees are one of the most awesome birds around they are cute curious friendly smart and talkative little birds over the years plenty of research have went into the vocalizations of chickadees and researchers have reported as these little guys use one of the most sophisticated signalling systems discovered among animals one species that is very widespread and familiar to a lot of people is the Black capped chickadee which is the one I will be talking about in this video they have at least 16 different vocalizations but I'm only going to go over eight of their vocalizations in this video because I only have recordings of eight out of the 16 different calls they make enjoy everyone's familiar with this call it's the one chickies make most frequently and is where they got their name males and females make this call which can be heard all throughout the year but much more so in fall in winter it may seem like a simple call to our ears but it's actually quite a complex and variable one serving multiple functions there are four possible note types within this call that can be arranged in many combinations with variable numbers of Riki's because of this recombinant system of different notes allowing an open-ended variety of chickadee call types this call has been likened to human language chickadees use this call during mobbing of predators as an alarm to maintain flock cohesion as an all's clear signal after a predator that startled a flock has you moving left and even to identify another flock of chickadees the call can communicate information a bit of food source in this case just one or two DS are added to the end of the talk it can also relay details about a predator the level of threat posed its size and if it is moving or stationary in this case the chickadee call has changed to an alarm call with the amenities at the end of the call increasing by five or more when you hear five or more DS add it to the end of this cuddle then you know there is a predator of some sort near and the more D's added the greater the threats for example as many as 23 added DS had been counted by researchers when chickadees were presented with a pygmy owl a very dangerous predator chickadees however when presented with a not so threatening predator a large bird of prey the great horned owl the amenities were much less only about five years of observing the chickadees in my area closely has helped give me a general idea of what kind of predator is near when the chickadees alarm call such an incredibly low to call for such a small songbird one worth paying attention to for beasts on many people should be familiar with this call it is mostly made by Mayo Black capped chickadees and can be heard throughout the year but more so in late winter and especially during spring often the Phoebe sign is described as sounding like hey sweetie which fits perfectly since one of the reasons males sing it is to attract and arouse females so yeah hey sweetie it is also and more funnily described as sounding like cheeseburger this call consists of two clear tones that lasts approximately one second in total the first note fee is higher in pitch than the second note be also the second note has a very short amplitude break in the middle which is audible at close range for example be e to be e it turns out that this call is a rather complex one to those chickadees sure know how to communicate give them some time and their language skills will be as good as ours it is used to signal aggression to other males to defend a territory and to attract and arouse females during the breeding season a prolonged version of Phoebe's on can be heard at done it seems that higher ranking males sing more during the dong course than low ranking males and bachelor males sing more than paired meals it is also used in aggressive exchanges during day time counter singing competitions both male and female chickadees listen to the singing competition between males nail performance during these competitions influences female reproductive behavior and male territorial behavior to our ears distinguishing between two different males singing with the beasts I would probably be next to impossible chickadees however pick up on subtleties we miss studies have shown that male chickadees can tell who is who just by listening to males sing through these songs they can also who is the more dominant meal on the block this is because the favi call of each male chickadee is unique for young and inexperienced males this comes in handy because they can eavesdrop and figure out who is who in the neighborhood broken DS probably my favorite chickadee called a broken D can only be heard during the breeding season and if you do hear this call then you know you have yourself a female black cap chickadee because only females make it its primary function seems to be to encourage her mate to bring her some grub it is also thought to help with cementing the bond between the pair how sweet dargol this call is an aggressive rapid vocalization like the chickadee call it is apparently very complex and varies a lot between different populations of black-capped chickadees gargle calls may be used by a dominant bird to declare that a food item is his if another chickadee was about to take it it is also used when one chickadee intrudes on another chickadees territory or if two chickadees in a swot get too close together these gargle calls can be served all throughout the year but much more so in winter clucks gurgles can also be given in a sexual context sometimes during a meals down close performance such gargles are not associated with aggression but are often associated with copulation I came across some interesting information about this Kyle from ear birding comm which stated that researchers who have studied this often overlook call for decades say that it may actually fulfil more of the traditional sign functions than the whistled songs like the faux bee so you know not all chickadees have a whistled signs however gargles can be heard from all North American chickadee species like traditional Suns gargles are learned it's been shown that captive Black capped chickadees do not develop proper gargles in the absence of an adult tutor individual birds typically produce several different types of gargles forming a repertoire and most are all species that gargles are given primarily by males and are associated with dominance and toriel defense they're actually really complex being made up of many different note types for all of these reasons it's been suggested that in the chickadee species that don't also whistle the gargles can be considered the Sun this gets more interesting because if this is correct then black-capped Carolina and mountain chickadees that do whistle really have two sons the whistled son and the gargle baking D only heard during late spring and throughout summers this call is made by the adorable fledgling Black capped chickadees to obtain food from his parents as well as to let their parents know where they are honestly unless they are napping there is rarely a moment when they aren't making this begging D call and it's so adorable by the time they are ready to be on their own the begging D turns to the typical chickadee call pattern adults meek seat a common call made all throughout the year by both sexes this call is used almost constantly and by undisturbed birds just casually doing their typical chickadee stuff its function is to signal the colors location to other members of the flock who are very nearby it may also be used in encounters with individuals they don't know so it's a kind of contact calls past studies have suggested that this common contact call is a learned one high-pitch see if you hear this call then you know it cool rector is near because chickadees used this call when they see one quickly flying by or when one attacks when this call is given which is mostly by males all the other chickadees immediately stop everything they are doing and remain motionless until they hear a chickadee call letting them know all is clear when I hear this call I know that there is a fast-moving predator most likely a bird of prey flying nearby chatter call this traffic call is given by dominant chickadees after a chase I couldn't find much more about this call but I can give my own observations I don't hear this call very often but when I do it's during spring one male I knew very well alpha gave me that lovely recording one spring day interestingly she had not been chasing after any other chickadees and was alone it seemed to be a part of his other territorial calls like the gargle and fatigue I played the recording back to him and this was how he reacted as you can see his behavior changed instantly he started shivering his wings and using one of his gargle calls chickadees truly are interesting birds that are worth paying attention to make no wonder so many people love these little masked bandits of the eight Black capped chickadee calls I went over which ones did you find the most fascinating for me I think it would have to be the gargle calls just because they seemed so much more complex than I was aware of plus they are pretty neat calls and one more thing I just wanted to remind you of the birds make me happy shirts they are available until the 15th of this month so if you would like to have one check out the link in the description thanks so much for your time and support happy birding [Music] [Music]

Channel: LesleytheBirdNerd

Views: 447,441

Rating: 4.9345579 out of 5

Keywords: lesleythebirdnerd, birds, nature, wildlife, birding, birdwatching, ornithology, Sony, rx10, bird song, birdsinging, bird calls, bird vocalizations, chickadee

Id: reKoV7pD9CA

Length: 10min 32sec (632 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 02 2018

Reddit Comments

[u/ShirleyIdgaf]

I'm a sub, cannot say enough nice things. She has taught me a lot about birds, specifically birds that we have in common from my region.

[u/c0mm0nn1ghthawk]

I enjoy her videos on Blue Jays.

I really like how she explained their behavior, and how she never speak of them in a bad way.