Mountain Chickadee

Our favorite bird in the mountains. The mountain chickadee is polite, intelligent and entertaining. Polite because they take turns coming to the sunflower feeder and take a seed and leave. Other birds will perch on the feeder and sometimes swarm all over it. The chickadee help themselves to one seed and leave. I have never seen them chase each other or any other bird away. Intelligent, they seem to be highly intelligent. I put the feeder out yesterday and the regulars from last year were waiting for those delicious sun flower seeds. Their memory of where the feeder was and what it represents is remarkable. Sometimes when the feeder is out they will come and get me. Actually!!! If I am outside they will come and perch on a tree next to me and stare me down. Anyone who has a dog knows 'the stare'. I will tell them to go up to the feeder and I'll feed them. They will then go perch on the railing and wait for me to fill the feeder. Entertaining, they keep us entertained with their flitting around and song. They will sometimes light on the front window and look in at me when their feeder is out of seed. They will sometimes light on your hand to take seeds. This is a tiny bird that if just plain fun to have around.
Carol is presently heading back from town with a 50# bag of sunflower seeds. They will go through about 100 - 150 pounds of sun flower seeds per winter. Their presence is well worth the cost of that much sunflower seed.