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| Black-capped Chickadee |
I had to travel North to observe this bird. Based on what I saw at the feeder, I though getting a shot might prove difficult, given that the chickadees were prone to darting in, grabbing a seed, and departing just as quickly (I also marveled at how clean things were around the bird feeder. The finches and sparrows in my neck of the woods tend to hang out and make a mess. Chickadees eat elsewhere.). Happily, I was proven wrong. The chickadees seemed to feel much safer in the trees, and would pause long enough for me to frame, focus, and capture a few images.
With an acceptable image in camera, it was time to learn about this avian fluff ball. When it comes to birds, my first stop is usually All About Birds.
Here, I learned the chickadee's diet is a mix of insects and seeds. Looking at the beak, that makes sense. It is not as thick as a seed eater like a sparrow or finch, but it is not as thin as an insectivore like a wren.
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| WTF? |
Every autumn Black-capped Chickadees allow brain neurons containing old information to die, replacing them with new neurons so they can adapt to changes in their social flocks and environment even with their tiny brains.Um... And you know this how?
The answer, it turns out, is SCIENCE!
Back in 1994, black-capped chickadees were determined to have newly formed neurons in the hippocampal complex "with a marked peak in the fall." [1]
This was backed up by a study of songbirds published in 2003 which determined that in the fall, the chickadee's hippocampus expands in volume by "approximately 30 percent by adding new nerve cells." [2]
Thirty percent!
The first study was remarkable enough when it was published to have been written about in the New York Times, which may be more easily digestible than the actual paper. The Times article speculated on how this study may impact how we think long-term memories are formed as well as discussed the actual study. Not having followed neuroscience for the last 21 years, I can't comment on the impact the study actually had, but it sounds like a fun, educational, and huge time suck. I will have to add it to the list of fun, educational, huge time sucks to tackle when I have the time.
Disclaimer
I am not an ornithologist. My identification of the bird in the photo may be wrong.
References
[1]: Barnea, A, and F Nottebohm. “Seasonal Recruitment of Hippocampal Neurons in Adult Free-Ranging Black-Capped Chickadees.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 91.23 (1994): 11217–11221. Print. <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC45198/>[2]: Lehigh University. "As Autumn Approaches, This Chickadee's Brain Begins To Expand; New Nerve Cells Put Fall Foraging On Fast Track." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 12 September 2003. <http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2003/09/030912072156.htm>.
