November 2025

Our bird of the month is the most common visitor to Arkansas bird feeders. Its curious nature, cute appearance, and sweet song makes it a crowd favorite. When did you last see a Carolina Chickadee at your feeders? These 4-5” birds are year-round residents here in Arkansas, so there’s no rush to try to spot one this winter, although this tends to be an easy time to see them. Look for a bird with a black cap and bib, gray wings, and white belly. If you listen, you can hear their “chicka-dee-dee-dee” and whistled “see-dee, see-dee”. Their small, pointed beak is perfect for their mixed diet of insects, seeds, and fruit. Brave and social, they’re often one of the first birds to explore new sources of food, leading the way for other species such as titmice, nuthatches, woodpeckers, kinglets, and more. They’re also not very picky about habitat, leading them to be found both in deep woods as well as in neighborhoods.

They begin nesting in the early spring, and will find a nesting location in a tree cavity, often created by Downy Woodpeckers during the previous nesting season. To draw them in, make sure that they have nesting locations between 5-15’ high. Once they have chosen a suitable nesting location, they line the inside of the nest with soft materials such as fur, plant down, and lichen. They will lay 5-8 small eggs (white with speckles) in this nest, which hatch about 11-13 days after being laid. The hatchlings will stay in the nest for 16-19 days, after which they will take flight for the first time. According to Project Feederwatch, chickadees are the most commonly-reported birds in the state.

Carolina Chickadees love sunflower, safflower, peanuts, tree nuts, mealworms, fruit, and suet. Their natural diet is higher in insects during the summer months, but when insects get scarce in the winter they supplement their diet with their other favorites as well. A chickadee’s hippocampus (the part of the brain responsible for memory) is able to expand during the winter, to help it remember where it has hidden away seeds. If you would like to see more chickadees at the Botanical Garden’s bird-feeding station, make sure to donate to the “Feed a Bird” fund! To find out more about chickadees and other Arkansas birds, or to pick out your new favorite feeder, visit us at Wild Birds Unlimited, at one of our two locations (745 E Joyce Blvd in Fayetteville and 2011 Promenade Blvd in Rogers)! Enjoy the birds!