audio

Black-capped Chickadee sings Cheese-burger

All spring, three or four of these little black-capped chickadee birds have been frequenting the suet cake feeders and singing in the forest.  They have a number of calls and songs, but their “cheese-burger” song is by far the most charming.  This rendition was recorded near the Clarion River in early April:
 

To hear the black-capped chickadee sing cheeseburger next spring, head to Tom’s Run Road in Cook Forest State Park in mid-April.  For more information on the birds, and additional sound recordings, visit these pages on Audubon & the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, which provides this fact:

Every autumn Black-capped Chickadees allow brain neurons containing old information to die, replacing them with new neurons…

Want to attract black-capped chickadees?

black-capped chickadee by Alain Yvan Séguin

To bring black-capped chickadees to your own yard, follow a few simple tips that will also help other local wildlife.  If you know the CFC, you know that we love birds, and creating good habitat for all the creatures of western Pennsylvania.  Here’s a quick overview:

  • provide habitat – plant natives, and leave dead trees and bramble patches
  • provide attractive feeding, watering, & nesting sites
  • minimize predators – especially housecats (any cats, whether yours or feral), which injure all sort of critters when let outdoors

For further details on the habits and habitats of black-capped chickadees, and how to attract them to your yard (and improve your little piece of the area’s ecosystem generally), see this post: 

How to Attract Black-Capped Chickadees

Our thanks to Alain Yvan Séguin, Member of the Wild Birds Unlimited group, for the stunning black-capped chickadee photo, and to onthefeeder.com for reaching out about expanding this article 🙂

Cook Forest Soundscape: River Road in the Rain

This recording was taken 3 April, a rainy Tuesday when River Road was about as quiet as it ever is, in the daytime.  On the recording are: a dozen or so robins, a pair of warblers, a red squirrel or two [long chatter sound].  Automobile sounds, near the end of the clip, come from people getting into a car and preparing to leave, and another car driving east on River Road toward Clarington.  No alterations were made except for volume normalization and trimming of the ends of the clip.

This is the first in a series of recordings to be taken in and around Cook Forest.  Please add our channel on SoundCloud:  https://soundcloud.com/cookforestconservancy/