Black-Capped Chickadee from Egg to Fledgling

Last year black-capped chickadees looked at building a nest in this new birdhouse, but waited until this year. The chickadees removed some of the wood shavings I added as a base in the bird house and began making their nest with mostly mosses and some grasses. The inner cup lining of the nest looks to be made from soft animal hairs, possibly from an eastern cottontail rabbit and other animals. I cut many of the video clips of the parents going in and out of the bird house, as they were inside for 5-15 seconds, and then out looking for food for 30 seconds to 2 minutes or as long as 20 minutes. When the nestling chickadees were very young, the parents were not coming and going very often. As the nestlings approached fledgling size, the parents were frantically coming and going very often. It was exciting watching the chickadees develop. I think four of the eight eggs made it to fledgling, but maybe more. It took about 32 days for the young to leave the nest. I look forward to seeing the next generation at my bird feeders this winter.