Black-capped chickadee

Black-capped chickadees don't migrate in winter. But how do these tiny, frail-looking birds

survive the extreme cold? Remarkable adaptations make it possible: a particularly dense

layer of feathers that they inflate to retain heat; their ability to fall into hypothermia, i.e. to

reduce their body temperature, during the night; and a remarkable ability to memorize the

places where they have hidden food that provides them with the calories to maintain their

activity. They also know how to find cavities to protect themselves at night. These little

biological miracles are with us all winter long, greeting us with their characteristic tchic-a-

di di-di song as soon as the days grow longer.

(Trans : BA)