Many times when I've seen Black-capped Chickadees excavating or using cavities in ridiculously narrow dead branches or stubs of trees I've worried about the risk of it breaking off and wondered what the birds would do. A couple evenings ago during a walk in the Mulholland Wildflower Preserve I learned about one option. I saw a pair of chickadees approach a narrow high dead tree trunk, and one of them entered what appeared to be an old hole with a ragged entrance, one of three holes spaced along its length. The odd thing is that this tree trunk was not connected to a tree. It had snapped off, turned upside-down, and been caught in the top of another tree. When the ceiling becomes the floor, just do a little redecorating.
--Dave Nutter
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