Chickadee

My mom gets a lot of chickadees where she lives, and I probably saw some when I lived back home, but I was too busy then to really pay much attention.

I have never seen or heard a chickadee here, but I just saw one on my balcony. It was hanging around the feeder, which was empty, since the squirrels have taken it over. I heard the song, which was unlike any other I've heard out here, so they haven't been around, even in the other yards and the trees.

I just went out and filled the feeder and spread some seed around on the railing, in the hope of enticing it back. If it shows back up, I'll try to get a picture or two. The song is pretty, and the bird is adorable. The sound I heard was the 2nd one down, the ti-ti-ti and whistle.

 

I think chickadees are pretty birds. My very favorite bird in this area is the Purple Martin. They have such beautiful colors. When I was down at the lake one day, I saw a bird that looked like a chickadee but it had a ruby throat. It wasn't a ruby throated hummingbird. I will have to go online for a search. I have some bird books here, but of course, they are in boxes so, I will have to rely on the computer. The bird was really pretty funny as it was standing on a ladder on the pier jutting out into the lake and did not want to leave. He was obviously comfortable near the water.

 

I remember in grade school when we had this song in the classroom. It goes like... my chickadee lies over the ocean. Yeah, instead of bunny, our teacher replaced it with chickadee. Honestly, I have never seen a chickadee yet even in pictures. This is the first time I am reminded that I know the word chickadee but actually I didn't even know if it was a bird or something. For sure there are no chickadees here.

 

How lucky you all get to see chickadees. We do have birds on Oahu, but no chickadees. O ne pretty bird is the saffron finch, house finch, minah birds, sparrows, grey and brown cardinals, egrets, green parakeets, chestnut manikins sea birds like the Great Blue Heron that comes in to Kalihi Stream that over flowed and flooded a bit near where I live. The shy java rice birds, waxbills too are flying the skies of Oahu. The little friendly zebra doves and spotted doves fly all over the island. The pigeon frequents mostly Kahala to the heart of Honolulu. So far these birds and the nene State birde which I'v seen only on documentaries The mallard duck is seen in some secret places so is the illusive black stilts bird that I see at a watercress farm at Pearl City. The migrating golden plovers are so fun to observe as they forage for their food.
(image is from http://www.statesymbolsusa.org/symbol-official-item/hawaii/state-bird/nene)

 

Well, you have lots there in Hawaii, that we do not have that's for sure! I am still mystified by the bird though. I can not find any likely possibilities. I guess maybe the throat was red instead of ruby..but I really can't find anything that looks like it online..except for birds that are found in other areas. It is bugging me now. I wish the bird books weren't packed away. Anyway,,,have a good one!!! Enjoy your birds!

 

Maybe it's the start of migration, or perhaps it was injured during past migration and stayed behind? We sometimes have odd birds here because people will take them in as pets, then let them go.

I posted about the chickadee on Facebook and my neighbor said she has them at her feeder a lot, although I've sat over there for hours at a time and have never seen one, so they must be less frequent than the others that I get at my feeder, too.

 

Chickadees, no. But quite a few of these big Cuckoos. He seemed bent on following me into the shop. Our real little pet birds are the Quail, though, which we feed every morning. I had a few pics, but cannot find them. Sometimes they show up near dusk. I'll watch today, try to capture an image or two. Frank

 

Here's a momma and poppa with two babies. The babies little feet go a mile a minute to keep up with the parents, as they run from place to place! Frank

 

It looks like you have a little bird family there Frank. We have so many birds around here, but most of them stay a respectable distance away except I have some that want to nest on an abandoned bug zapper that is hanging on the front porch. I really don/t like it though. the birds get scared if you go out, and I am afraid they might fall out of the nest. I need to get rid of that bug zapper...seriously.

 

@K E Gordon In Missouri, a mama Phoebe bird built her nest atop a concrete block column which supported the front porch roof. One night, closing up the front door, my wife hurriedly called me out: the scene I felt was surreal, impossible. A 4-foot Blacksnake was 3/4 of the way up that block column, heading for the nest, body a series of "S's". I figured out later how it had pulled off the "impossible". The snake's underside is a series of sharp-edged scales it uses to gain traction on flat ground. Those edges were being carefully "hooked" onto the mortar joints between the blocks, as though the daggoned snake was glued to the vertical surface!. Slow going, I caught the invader half-way up, swiked it off the column with the broom always standing out there, while my wife handed out the shotgun kept behind the front door. I shot one round at the snake, which was down on the ground, cutting it in two. Next morning we found the "head" end had dragged itself plum around the corner of the house!

Normally, I would not kill a non-venomous snake, but knew it would return. The Phoebe nested there 2 more seasons! Frank

 

We have quite a variety of birds, including chickadees, that come to our feeders. Many others we see a lot but they don't come to the feeders.

 

Y'all have some great bird pics, thanks for sharing. I enjoy seeing what is native elsewhere. I've never seen a cuckoo that I know of @Frank Sanoica, and don't know anything about them, but it reminds me of a roadrunner, so I just looked it up and apparently they're related. I thought I was seeing things the first time I saw a roadrunner down here. I was across from the mall, and it seemed such an incongruous sight that I had to look it up. I only recently found out they're (roadrunners) also called chaparrals. A friend had one up by her kitchen window, which seemed odd, but apparently they go for the feeders, regardless of where they are.

 

@Diane Lane The Cuckoos are an entire family of birds related in some scientific way, I guess. The Roadrunner is a member, but I suspect the other Cuckoos are not as distinctly unique in their habits and appearance. Roadrunners are most often seen while driving about. They seem to have a penchant for running across the road, but I've never seen one "roadrunning". They seem to be either fearless, or lacking natural instinct to flee two-legged animals many times their size. They eat meat, I think mostly. Often seen carrying a lizard in their bill. They are about the size of a chicken. While they run a lot, they certainly can fly, and often swoop down to the ground off a rooftop. If one's car gets too close as the guy is running across in front of it, he will soar into the air, like a small plane taking off.

I am reminded of a rather humorous occurrence between a curious roadrunner and I, witnessed by my wife, but am reluctant to tell it publicly, rather embarrassing. Perhaps by PM, if I get my nerve up! Frank