Wild Bird Guide: Black-Capped Chickadee

You can't judge a book by its cover. The books in Stackpole's Wild Bird Guide series look rather like children's books, but although they are quite accessible, they are authoritative, written by real experts, and contain a wealth of information that serious birders and ornithologists, as well as casual birders and interested kids, will appreciate. These books are rich in photos, many absolutely beautiful and all illustrating important behaviors and/or physical features of the bird. In Black-capped Chickadee, Susan Smith, one of the leading authorities on the Black-capped Chickadee, has written a wonderful account of this splendid bird. Chapters are: General Natural History, Annual Cycle I--Reproduction, Annual Cycle II--Winter Flocks, Diet and Foraging, Social Behavior and Communication, Surviving the Cold of Winter, Population Ecology, and Relations with Humans. This book lacks the tables and scientific detail that inform the author's other chickadee book (The Black-Capped Chickadee: Behavioral Ecology and Natural History (Comstock Book), but the wealth of illustrations in this book and the friendly writing style make it a necessary title on the shelves of both serious researchers and chickadee aficionados everywhere.

This is a very readable book with many great photos of chickadees. Since I'm quite familiar with chickadees it didn't have a lot of information I wasn't already aware of, but there were a few tidbits that I found interesting. Being an aspiring bird photographer myself I did enjoy the photographs. Anyone who is a fan of the chickadee would enjoy this book.

The black-capped chickadee is certainly one of the most beloved of birds; one of the more recognizeable passerines, it is readily found at backyards feeders during the winter, and its pleasant "chicka-dee-dee-dee" call is known to all who frequent wooded areas. It is only natural that this species should be the subject of one the first books in the Wild Bird Guides series. Filled with numerous excellent colour photographs, the text is somewhat sparse, usually consisting of 50 to 200 word captions to individual photos. Its 90 pages is somewhat less than other titles in the series. That's not to say that the text is not informative. It definitely provides one with an excellent understanding of the black-capped chickadee's lifecycle. Overall, a well written and informative book.

WILD BIRD GUIDES: BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEE. By Susan M. Smith. 90 pages. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 1997. ISBN 0-8117-2686-X (pbk).Early this January, out of some obscure impulse, and although living in a fairly heavily built-up area, I decided to set up a birdbath and feeder in my miniscule garden. The feeder held a seed bar - sunflower seeds, mixed seeds, peanuts, oats; a fruit bar - banana, pear, apple, orange; and a 'calory' bar - honey water, and suet cake. It was an experiment. And it was wildly successful. My garden since has been filled with a constant stream of birds, both large and small, and their behavior provides a constant source of delight and interest. Of the seven or so species which regularly show up, undoubtedly the most interesting is the Shijukara, Japan's near-relative to the Black-capped Chickadee. I was intrigued by the behavior of this distinctively marked tiny bird, with it's black cap and bib, which will boldly approach within a few feet of where I sit, grab a sunflower seed, fly off to a nearby branch, and then, while firmly holding the seed between its feet, noisily pound away at it with its beak to break it open. A desire to know more quickly led me to the present book by Susan M. Smith.Smith, who is a member of the Department of Biological Sciences at Mount Holyoke University, tells us that "the chickadee's ability to use their feet in food manipulation is relatively unusual among perching birds" (p.43). Somewhat to my relief, she also assures us of the propriety of feeders since, with the ongoing destruction of habitat and foraging areas, feeders provide an essential source of food and water in winter, and the survival rates of birds is far higher in areas which have them. Her book, a brief popular treatment with a scientific flavor, offers a fascinating digest of what is currently known about this remarkable bird and includes chapters on Reproduction, Winter Flocks, Diet and Foraging, Social Behavior and Communication, Surviving the Cold of Winter, Population Ecology, Relations with Humans. The book is well-printed on high quality glossy paper, stitched, bound in a sturdy wrapper, and is stunningly illustrated throughout with full-color photographs. But although well-written and richly informative, and although the author's love and respect for the chickadee are certainly evident, there is a complete absence of personal anecdote. Readers might consider supplementing Smith's account with the following less 'scientific' but more warmly human and anecdote-filled book:HAND-TAMING WILD BIRDS AT THE FEEDER. By Alfred G. Martin. 144 pages. Chambersburg, Pennsylvania: Alan C. Hood & Company, Inc., 1963 and reprinted. ISBN 0-911469-07-9 (pbk).Both Smith's and Martin's wise observations about the chickadee are truly impressive, and no-one who is at all interested in birds will want to miss either of these fascinating books.