As Bianca the Black-Capped Chickadee perched on her branch…
I heard an alarm call from another Black-Capped Chickadee nearby:
Chick-a-dee-dee-dee-dee-dee-dee-dee-dee-dee-dee!
Now, Chickadees are tiny birds, and they often band together to mob and harass predators. They summon other Chickadees with their “dee dee” call::
“Calling all chickadees! Predator perched to strike!”
And the number of “dees” signals the size of the threat. So I figured ten “dees” could mean my neighbor’s cat, who likes to lurk in the bushes near my feeders.
I fired a burst, figuring Bianca might join the defensive mob…
And off she flew! But I never saw the cat or a hawk, so can’t tell you if I was so clever or made a lucky guess.
So you tell me. Was I lucky or smart?
