The Chickadee

By Lara M., age 10

A chickadee landed on a branch
As it swayed this way and that.
Its wings and feet,
Its beady eyes and beak—
A marvelous creation indeed!

Black-capped chickadees spend each fall stashing thousands of nuts and seeds in crevices of bark, under dead leaves, and even in the shingles of rooftops. In winter when food is hard to find, the birds can remember exactly where they hid a meal.

Scientists recently learned how chickadees have such good memories. By inserting tiny probes in the chickadees’ brains, the scientists discovered that when a chickadee hides a snack, its hippocampus (the part of the brain that learns and remembers) increases activity and lights up the probes in a unique pattern—kind of like a barcode on the back of a package. When the chickadee goes back to the seed’s hiding place, its hippocampus activated the same pattern of lights.

God made creatures like birds able to adapt to new conditions after sin entered the world. Now black-capped chickadees have exactly the brain power to survive harsh winters.

Flighty Facts

1. Chickadees nest in old woodpecker holes or nesting boxes, or they dig their own nesting holes in rotting wood.
2. There are seven chickadee species in the US.
3. Chickadees usually mate for life.
4. Chickadees weigh less than half an ounce and are typically between 4 and 6 inches long.
5. The black-capped chickadee is the state bird of Maine and Massachusetts.
6. Mountain chickadees can live up to 10 years.