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OREGON CHICKADEE

To find the Oregon chickadee we must look in the trees near water. They are birds of the willow and alder and do not often nest within our deep fir woods. They are not common in the park and we have records only at Longmire and the Nisqually Entrance, where they undoubtedly breed. The altitude in our park is a little too high for them.

The Oregon chickadee is the western form of the black-capped chickadee of the eastern states. The top of the head, nape of the neck and throat are jet black, the cheeks white. It has a gray back with white underparts. It lacks the chestnut back of the chestnut-backed chickadee and the extra white line that runs over the eye of Grinnell's chickadee. He plainly says "chickadee-dee-dee", while the chestnut-backed can only lisp it.

The nest is usually near the ground, behind the bark of an old rotten stump, in old woodpecker's holes, or most often in a soft willow where the bird digs a cavity in the pithy wood. The cavity hole goes down several inches and contains a well-made nest of moss, plant down and feathers. Rabbit fur is used when obtainable. Six to eight white eggs with reddish spots are laid, about the end of April, and one brood a year. When one approaches close to the nesting hole the incubating bird will not always flush, but from the depths of the cavity comes a snake-like hiss, giving one an unexpected shiver.

In winter these chickadees join ranks with creepers, nuthatches and kinglets, roaming and feeding together through the thick forests.

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GRINNELL'S CHICKADEE

Other common names: Mountain Chickadee.

Museum Specimens - Yakima park (6400).

There is often much excitement among the naturalists and bird lovers in winter when a band of these chickadees appears in a city park. It is not often that this little mountaineer descends to sea level, but a welcome is extended to him. Those interested follow the flock with binoculars, looking for the extra white stripe over the eye - the mark distinguishing it from the Oregon chickadee.

This bird is more common at Yakima Park and Sunrise Point than in other wooded sections. In the late summer and fall they are plentiful in the alpine trees, between the Blockhouse and Shadow Lake, that are so covered and festooned with black moss that they contain a plenteous repast for the entire family - the parents and perhaps eight healthy youngsters. They may spend fifteen minutes in one tree while feeding.

Their nests are placed in holes in snags. As our dead alpine trees are too hard for them to drill, an old woodpecker hole or a natural cavity is used. The inner nest is cup-shaped and looks much like a bit of thick felt made of hair and rabbit fur. Six to eight white eggs are laid. A white pair of these birds was busily cleaning out a hole at Reflection Lake on May 17, 1937.

In addition to the slight "dee-dee" note, these mountain chickadees have a rather clear flute-like whistling note that carries some distance through the quiet woods and which, once heard, is easily recognized and remembered.

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CHESTNUT-BACKED CHICKADEE

Museum Specimens - Longmire (2700); Lake Allen (3500).

This is the commonest chickadee in the park and is found in all sections below timberline. Little families are met with in summer, and in winter they travel in groups with their friends - the kinglets and nuthatches.

The chestnut-backed is the smallest of the tribe and is easily identified by the chestnut back and flanks. It is found more in the deep woods and is not attracted to water as is the Oregon chickadee.

Chestnut-backed chickadees show little fear of man and I have often stood at the base of the tree to which they were carrying nesting material, stopping to give me a look and then going on with their work. I have seated myself below them, placing short bits of string on my knee. After sizing me up with her beady black eyes, the female came down and took the string.

They build a nest in a cavity, either "ready-made" by a woodpecker or nuthatch or one of their own making in a soft, rotten snag. The nest is made of moss and lined with hair and fur. Six to nine white eggs with reddish spots are laid and there are full sets by May 10. They are close critters but will flush when the tree is rapped on.

I once examined a nest, the entrance hole to which was level with my face. As I peered in, a very offensive odor met me. Could all the family be dead and decayed? Breaking open the entrance I was surprised to see a beautiful set of fresh eggs on a bed of fur. At this time the parent bird slipped past my face and into the nest, so there was nothing dead or deserted there. Looking about, I discovered the body of a cat in a very putrid condition. The bird had been using the hair from the dead animal for nesting material. How could she stand being cooped up in that stuffy cavity for ten days with that terrible odor? She did, however, and hatched her brood!

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COAST BUSH-TIT

Museum Specimens - Stevens Crook (3000).

This bush-tit was first recorded in the park in 1937, a flock feeding along Nickel Creek. In 1938 two separate families were observed along the bank of Stevens Creek, all of which proves that we do have a Transition zone in the park! As both were summer records, the chances are that this bird breeds down near the southern boundary. Stevens Creek is an ideal summer location, being hot and humid with several miles of alder and other deciduous growth along the sides of the stream.

Bush-tits are tiny - smaller than the chickadees. They show no marked coloring in flight and may be considered just plain mouse-gray above and lighter gray below. If it were not for a longish tail there would be little to him, his length being four inches. But they are an interesting family. Outside of the nesting season they travel in family groups, flitting through the bushes and trees, one by one, passing each other to the next bush in search of food. They would seldom be seen if they lived solitary lives. Later in the year these groups join together into flocks, and as we count them passing an opening, one at a time, we may be surprised to record a total of twenty or thirty birds.

They do not migrate, but seek the low Puget Sound country, spending the winter in some gulch or swamp where the low growth is thick. Unlike the chickadees, kinglets and creepers who live sociably together in winter the bush-tit travels only with his own kind.

When spring comes the birds nest early. Some pairs may hang their nests in a fir or madrona, but most of them choose a high bush near some swamp. The ocean-spray bush is the great favorite and the dead tassels of last year help to keep the hanging nests from being conspicuous. The nest is a hanging bag sometime a foot long, with only a small opening on the side near the top for these tiny birds to enter. They use moss and plant fibre, lining the bottom with feathers. Not satisfied with this bag, they must camouflage the outside with something white, usually bits of white paper woven into the green moss. To insure the bag from swaying, they fasten one side to a twig below.

They lay six to nine pure white eggs which soon turn to a shiny mud color, stained from the birds' feet. The young remain in the bag until, fully grown, so if you should visit a nest in the evening and find eight young birds together with the parent birds, with only one small opening at the top of the bag, you begin to wonder how they can live and breathe. They have two broods a year - one in April and another in June. There is no chance for race suicide with these mites!

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Descriptions continued...