Beginner’s luck at hand-feeding a chickadee

On a whim of the moment, I put some black-oil sunflower seeds in my right hand and held them out with the hope that a black-capped chickadee might take them.

I stood between a bird feeder and a hemlock tree. Two chickadees darted through the air and landed in the hemlock. This is how they always approach the feeder. They never fly directly to it. They always stop in the hemlock first, look for an opening, then perch for a second or two on the feeder, just long enough to grab a sunflower seed.

I held out the sunflower seeds, and within about a minute, one of the chickadees appeared on my finger tips. It was light as a cotton ball, but its feet gave the slightest pinch. As I write this, I can still feel that sensation, the mild pinch from its feet. The little bird took a seed and flew away, and I felt the soft draft from its wings as it fled to the interior of the hemlock. I was excited, but remained still, and it came back — slight pinch from its feet, draft from its wings — and gone again.

I figure it was beginner’s luck. I thought it would take hours of standing like a statue, arm outstretched, to get a bird in hand.

Turns out, it’s not as easy as my experience would suggest.

The photo above is out of focus from a clumsy and unsuccesful attempt to get a shot of a chickadee eating from my hand later on the same day. As you can see, for its afternoon snack, the chickadee went to the feeder instead of my hand. But I was not disappointed because I had had those five seconds — slight pinch, soft draft — of morning glory in my hand. And in my hand forever.

Note: A different version of this post appears on my Substack page.

This photo is from a YouTube video on feeding chickadees by hand.