Dispersal movements of juvenile Black-capped Chickadees

Abstract

To learn more about Chickadee dispersal this study was undertaken from the summer of 1970 through the summer of 1973, involving the color-banded population of Black-capped Chickadees at the UW-M Cedar-Sauk Field Station described by Weise (1971). The most intensively studied birds were located in about 26 hectares of upland beech-maple forest and about 30 hectares of the cedar-tamarack bog forest at and immediately surrounding the Field Station. The territories of the breeding pairs in these areas were mapped, and as many nests as possible were located. The development of the young in accessible nests was followed, and just before fledging, at an age of about 12 days, the nestlings were color-banded. This involved cutting into the nest cavity, removing the young and banding them, closing the nest cavity, and replacing the young.