Some birds are known for their habit of pecking on wood (we’re looking at you, woodpeckers…), though many people don’t realise that chickadees also fit into this category. Though they’re usually much quieter and significantly less persistent than a woodpecker, a chickadee can still become something of an annoyance.
Chickadees do have a reason for pecking on wood, though; as mentioned above, they’re cavity-nesters. In the wild, cavities are difficult to come by, and the natural ones that do occur are likely to be already taken.
The bird needs a small cavity in order to nest, so in order to make sure that there is a suitable roosting place, a chickadee will create one themselves. By pecking into the wood, they’re essentially hollowing out a portion of the wood that can then be turned into a nest!
Unlike other birds, chickadees aren’t sapsuckers. They don’t rely on the sap from the wood to sustain themselves, which is why their beaks aren’t shaped like that of a sapsucking woodpecker.
Due to their smaller beaks, a chickadee is unable to drill into thick, dense wood. They typically target thin or decaying trees, where they can quickly hollow out the first few layers of wood.