More pics of chickadee excavating nest cavity
The bird in the top photo has what appears to be some wood fiber in its beak. It was removing it from the nest cavity it is excavating. This is consistent with information in the Birds of North America online that states that Black-capped Chickadees "use beaks to remove substrate (usually rotten wood)."
I uploaded the bottom photo as pics of birds showing their tops, or back sides, are not often shown. I think it is unfortunate that more pics of tops, bottoms, etc are not shown as I believe it makes it easier to spot and identify birds if you know what they look like all over since they don't always provide frontal views.
SeEtta
Labels: Black-capped Chickadees, nesting