27 Comments
User's avatar
Kyle Shepard's avatar

Your explanations behind their abilities and the reasoning for it are truly fascinating. Thank you brother. Both your content and pictures continue to be excellent

Expand full comment
James Freitas's avatar

Thank you, Kyle--means a lot coming from you.

Expand full comment
Kyle Shepard's avatar

👊🏻

Expand full comment
Neil Barker's avatar

Awesome images and facts of the Black-capped Chickadee, James. They're Nature's little miracle. That is amazing too about their neuroplasticity based on season and survival. They're my near constant companions on my hikes. Thanks for sharing.

Expand full comment
James Freitas's avatar

They are great little companions out on the trail—and happy to receive their seed tax! Thank you Neil.

Expand full comment
Kelly C. Ballantyne's avatar

thanks for sharing all that wonderful chickadee knowledge, James. Also, that chickadee in flight photo is absolutely stunning 🤩

Expand full comment
James Freitas's avatar

Thank you Kelly!

Expand full comment
Tara Perrot's avatar

I work with a fellow neuroscientist who studies chickadee brains and how they change across the seasons :) cool stuff. Great article about these little birds and the capacity of the brain for plasticity.

Expand full comment
James Freitas's avatar

Super cool stuff, your coworker must have such a deep understanding of chickadees. Two fascinating things: the brain and chickadees.Thank you for reading, Tara.

Expand full comment
Teyani Whitman's avatar

The chickadee collection is one of favorites amongst your posts.

The photo of them that is fifth from the bottom has totally stolen my heart, and makes me wish I could gently stroke that tummy from the beak to their feet using the back of my finger in one slow tender motion.

I wonder if a bird would enjoy this like a cat does? Silly to wonder, but I do.

These little fluff balls delight me whenever they fly to my feeders. They seem to take only one sunflower seed at a time, then return soon after to gather another.

They’re one of the most patient of birds here, never rushing one of the purple finches away from its perch, then looking around as if to see whether any others are waiting, and only then do they swoop in. (Am I anthropomorphizing too much??) 🤗

Thank you for these lovely photos. And also the one of you readying your small fishing skiff for spring time use.

Expand full comment
James Freitas's avatar

That’s not too much anthropomorphizing! Just very astute observations. I’ve also noticed they often go seed by seed. Thank you for reading and sharing your thoughts Teyani.

Expand full comment
Sharron Bassano's avatar

Wow! That photo you caught of that little sweetheart flapping her wings - spectacular!

Expand full comment
James Freitas's avatar

Thank you Sharron!

Expand full comment
Maja Mielke's avatar

Super interesting. Especially that seasonal neuroplasticity. Thanks for this post, I learned so much!

Expand full comment
James Freitas's avatar

Thank you for reading!

Expand full comment
Timber Fox's avatar

They are fascinating little birds!

Expand full comment
James Freitas's avatar

They are so underrated!

Expand full comment
Heidi Zawelevsky's avatar

Thank you for reposting this article, James. It's fascinating to learn about the Black-capped Chickadee physiology as well as their neuroplasticity and the correlation of caching and memory seasonally. We have so much to learn from these amazing and charming birds. Excellent photography.

Expand full comment
James Freitas's avatar

Thank you Heidi, I’m glad you enjoyed this about chickadees. They are wellsprings of wonder.

Expand full comment
Peter Gelderloos's avatar

Thank you for your writing, your attention, and your research!

Expand full comment
James Freitas's avatar

Thank you for reading, Peter!

Expand full comment
S. Uckun's avatar

New to your substack. Thanks for the repost. I love Black-capped Chickadee.

Expand full comment
James Freitas's avatar

Thank you for reading!

Expand full comment
Lindsay Hartley's avatar

Beautiful pics, and I always love learning something new about these little sweeties. Thanks for sharing James. I will be saving this one for future reference.

Expand full comment
Sheryl White's avatar

Wow, you must have posted this article awhile back, there sure was a lot of info in it, which was cool to read! I learned a lot about these little ones. Thank you for reposting it!

Expand full comment
James Freitas's avatar

Happy to reshare! Glad you enjoyed, Sheryl.

Expand full comment