What is the Maine State Bird?

What is the Maine State Bird?

The black-capped chickadee was titled as the state bird of Maine in 1927. This tiny North American songbird is mostly familiar because of its cute oversized head and enthusiastic behavior towards everything including human. The Maine state bird, the Black-capped chickadees have a distinctive black cap and bib, white fluffy cheeks and gray back, wings and tail. Deciduous and mixed forests, open woods, parks, willow thickets, cottonwood groves, and disturbed areas are their usual habitat. Insects, especially caterpillars are the primary foods of black-capped chickadees.

In cold winter weather, black-capped chickadees have been observed to decrease their body temperature from 42 degree centigrade to around 10-12 degree centigrade in order to conserve their energy. These little birds have extra ordinary memory. They usually hide their seeds and other food items for later and each items are hidden in different spots. Black-capped chickadees can remember up to thousands of these hidden places. They generally roam around in flocks and can live an average of 2-3 years. The oldest chickadee alive was recorded to be a male one of 11.6 years.

State Bird of MaineFacts —

  • Common name:  Black-capped chickadee
  • Scientific name:  Poecileatricapilla
  • Habitat:  deciduous and mixed forests, open woods, parks, willow thickets, cottonwood groves, and disturbed areas.
  • Diet:  half seeds, berries, and other plant matter, and half animal food (insects, spiders, and sometimes fat and bits of meat from frozen carcasses)
  • Song and Calls:  the song is a simple, pure 2 or 3-note whistled fee-bee or hey, sweetie.
  • Weight:  9-14 g
  • Length:  12-15 cm
  • Wingspan:  16-21 cm
  • Average lifespan:  2-3 years
  • Incubation period:  12-13 days

The Maine state bird, the Black-Capped Chickadee store seeds and other food objects to eat later. Every item is located in anewplace and the chickadee can recall thousands of hiding places. Black-capped Chickadees permit brain neurons comprising old data to die every autumn.By doing that they substitute them with fresh neurons so they can get used tochanges in their social flocks and environment even with their small brains.

Chickadee songs and calls are multifaceted and they are like language. Chickadee communicate information on individuality and acknowledgement of other flocks in addition to predator alarms and interaction calls. The more dee notes in a call of chickadee-dee-dee, the greater the level of threat. Winter gathers with chickadees aiding as the centerencompasscoupled chickadee pairs and non-breeders. Generally the younglings of the mature pairs are not within that flock. Other kinds that associate with chickadee flocks comprise nuthatches, woodpeckers, kinglets, creepers, warblers and vireos. Most birds that subordinate with chickadee flocks answer back to chickadee panic calls, even when their own kinds do not have a relatedpanic call. There is a governance hierarchy within Chickadee flocks. Few birds are “winter floaters” that don’t fit into a single flock.

These characters may have a diverse rank within each flock they devote time in. Chickadees practically always sleep in their own separatehollowseven when temperatures are way below zero. In bad wood, they can mine nesting and resting holes completely on their own. As small songbirds roaming through an unaccustomed area often subordinate with chickadee flocks, inspecting and heeding for chickadee flocks throughout spring and fall can often aware birders to the company of interesting nomads. Their average lifespan is 2-3 years. The oldest known wild Black-capped Chickadee was a male and at least 11 years, 6 months old when it was brought back and rereleased during banding actions in Minnesota in 2011. It had been banded in the same state in 2002.

The law defining the Black-capped Chickadee as the official Maine state birdis Section §209 (State bird) of the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 1 (GENERAL PROVISIONS) Chapter 9 (SEAL, MOTTO, EMBLEMS AND FLAGS) Section 209.

Reference:

http://www.ereferencedesk.com

https://www.allaboutbirds.org

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