Hi Tweeters,
When I lived in Redmond, I would brush my cats and put their hair in the branches of the trees near my feeders. The Black-capped and Chestnut-backed Chickadees came and took it away, presumably as nesting material. They would start with a small piece and then pick up as much as they could hold in their beaks.
I recently moved to Lake Joy, where I have neither seen nor heard a chickadee despite my feeders being up for two weeks :-(
However, I do have Violet-green Swallows. I've been placing the cat hair on the grass in front of our kitchen and family room windows. Within minutes, the swallows zoom in and grab the hair on the wing! It's quite a show. One day, an American Goldfinch managed to get some before the swallows came.
Paula Crockett
Lake Joy (Carnation, WA)