This morning while walking along Minnehaha Creek in Mpls I noticed a
very agitated group of chickadees: they were constantly chasing and
harassing another small bird.
I thought maybe it was a tufted titmouse in their midst, or at least
something different, so stopped to check it out.
Surprisingly, the harassed bird was another chickadee. The group of
5-7 birds constantly chased it, right on its tail, not letting up
unless it kept some distance, preferably perching in a different tree.
The harassed bird was noticeably smaller than the others--I noted it
as "10-20%" smaller, although it is hard to tell on such tiny birds!
Otherwise it looked like a black-capped chickadee. It sang "tee-dee-
dee" while the others tended toward longer "chick-a-dee-dee-dee-dee"
songs, but there was much variation among the group.
The little chickadee did not have any food the others coveted, they
simply would not tolerate its presence at all in their flock. Perhaps
it was ill, although it looked very healthy and was energetic: good
feather color and much rich buffy color underneath.
Chickadees usually are so good-natured and cooperative--this was very
unusual to me.
The thought of a different species of chickadee crossed my mind
(Carolinas are smaller), but the books list them as very non-
migratory and never coming this far north.
Any thoughts?
Diana Doyle
S. Minneapolis
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