Black-capped Chickadees in New Mexico

Black-capped Chickadees live in New Mexico all year — northern mountains. Cold nights and sunny days; many desert and mountain birds move to lower elevations. That makes the cold months the time your yard matters most to them: their winter diet shifts toward cached seeds and insect eggs; suet and sunflower at feeders; poison-ivy and bayberry fruit.

Arid to semi-arid, with Chihuahuan desert in the south and mountain forest above 7,000 ft.

Across New Mexico, black-capped chickadees typically nest from April–July. Nest site: excavates or reuses cavities in soft, rotting wood; readily uses nest boxes. Females lay 1–13 eggs (usually 6–8), incubate for 11–14 days, and young leave the nest after 12–16 days.

Hot, dry early summer followed by the July–August monsoon.

• Have boxes cleaned and mounted before March — black-capped chickadees begin prospecting ahead of egg-laying.
• Use a 1 1/8 in round entrance on a 4 × 4 in floor, mounted 5–15 ft.
• Fit a pole baffle or hole guard; ventilation gaps and drainage holes are essential.
• Clean out old nests after each brood and again after July.

Of the regional native plants we track for New Mexico, these 8 provide food or cover black-capped chickadees use:

Chickadees grab one seed, leave to hammer it open or hide it, then return. They are among the first to find a new feeder.

• Best foods: Black-oil sunflower, Suet, Shelled peanuts, Hulled sunflower.
• In New Mexico's winter: Cold nights and sunny days; many desert and mountain birds move to lower elevations.

Full diet breakdown for black-capped chickadees · Best feeder for black-capped chickadees