door to NaturE


minute when it is asleep. During the 14 or more hours spent at night in its roost- ing cavity, its body temperature also goes down, enabling the bird to use nearly 20 percent less energy in remaining alive during the extreme cold.


I was quite impressed the first time I


removed a chickadee from a mist net. Ed Peartree, licensed bander of Ocono- mowoc, was teaching me the art of mist netting. After a couple of weekends of watching him, he finally allowed me to remove my first bird, a chickadee. What a scrapper! What an initiation I received: Its body seemed to hum or vibrate in my hand – little did I realize then what its normal heartbeat was.


Talk about quickness and maneuver-


ability! Stroboscopic studies of this speed merchant show that it can change its di- rection of flight in three-hundredths of a second. Its wing beat – about 30 per second – enables it to accomplish this rapid change of direction.


doorcountyliving.com Winter 2011/2012 Door County Living 55


(Opposite page) A pencil sketch by Charlotte Lukes of a chickadee lured to striped sunflower seeds in an open hand was featured in Roy’s first book, Once Around the Sun, A Door County Journal. (Above) This chickadee’s feathers are puffed out on a cold winter day to trap air and provide it with insulation. (Below) A Chickadee’s short pointed beak, helpful in obtaining all its food, is unusually strong. Bird banders soon learn to respect it!


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