On Mon, 12 May 1997, Mike Patterson wrote:

> down. Most chickadee nests show a curious chipping around the hole of the
> box which I do not find associated with boxes used only by swallows.
>
> I have not been able to eliminate the possibility that these are caused by
> squirrels, rats or woodpeckers. It may also be some kind of hole preparation
> behavior that chickadees do. Any observational data on chickadee entry hole
> preparation would be useful.

We have had black-capped chickadees nest in an insulation hole in our
siding several times. Because of its position we cannot get a close look
at the hole but it is only a few feet from our dining room table. We
often hear them pecking at the nest hole early in the season. I think we
hear this primarily around the time when they are selecting the site as
opposed to when they are brooding or raising the young.

Jim Elder (jime at eskimo.com)
SEA, Inc.
7030 220th St SW
Mountlake Terrace, WA 98043