For each type of nesting, we modelled how the use of a nest box appeared to have been influenced by its design and dimensions, plus features of the garden and environment.

They also make begging calls unlike the sounds their parents make, and hop awkwardly on trees learning where to find their own food. Black-capped chickadees filled this manmade nest box with moss ...

No chickadee builds a nest without a cushion of moss. Every blue-gray gnatcatcher camouflages its nest with a coating of lichens, glued in place with saliva.

Making the box available in early spring would give chickadees a chance to establish themselves before wrens returned in early May. Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle.

The gray-headed chickadee was last heard in Alaska in 2018 and encroaching beavers may diminish what was the birds’ natural habitat.