Chestnut-backed Chickadee

Poecile rufescensOrder: PASSERIFORMES Family: Titmice and Chickadees (Paridae)

Codes: Common Name: CBCH Scientific Name: POERUF ITIS Taxonomic No.: 554387

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Overview

Chestnut-backed Chickadee: Small, energetic chickadee with chestnut-brown back, rump and flanks, and white breast and belly. Cap and throat are black; cheek patch is white. Wings and tail are dark. Legs and feet are gray-black. Song not whistled like other chickadees, more like a sparrow chipping.

Range and Habitat

Chestnut-backed Chickadee: Resident from coastal Alaska south to central California; also in western ranges of the Rocky Mountains in southern British Columbia, southern Alberta, and western Montana. Preferred habitats are Pacific rain forest and moist areas containing conifers.

Topo Map: Perching-like Body

Listen to Call

Voice Text

"chip-chip-chip-chip", "tseek-a-dee-dee"

Interesting Facts

The Chestnut-backed Chickadee is a cavity nester and will line their nests with the fur of deer, rabbits and coyotes. They also make a blanket of fur to cover the eggs when they leave the nest.

They store food in the fall and consume it in winter.

In the part of their range where they overlap with the Black-capped Chickadee they will nest and feed in the lower half of trees only in order to minimize competition.

A group of chickadees are collectively known as a "banditry" and a "dissimulation" of chickadees.

Bird Term Glossary

Author

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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.

Chestnut-backed Chickadee

● Song: "chip-chip-chip-chip", "tseek-a-dee-dee"

● Foraging & Feeding: Chestnut-backed Chickadee: Diet includes seeds, spiders, caterpillars, and other insects.

● Breeding & nesting: Chestnut-backed Chickadee: Five to nine white eggs with sparse red brown marks are laid in a natural cavity or woodpecker hole. Often excavates a rotten stump and then builds nest of moss and hair inside. Incubation ranges from 11 to 14 days and is carried out by the female.

● Similar species: Chestnut-backed Chickadee: Black-capped and Mountain chickadees lack bright chestnut-brown back, rump, and sides.

Flight Pattern

Weak fluttering flights of short duration.

Chesnut-backed Chickadee Body Illustration

● Range & Habitat: Chestnut-backed Chickadee: Resident from coastal Alaska south to central California; also in western ranges of the Rocky Mountains in southern British Columbia, southern Alberta, and western Montana. Preferred habitats are Pacific rain forest and moist areas containing conifers.

^BreedingMonogamous, Loose colonies

^PopulationFairly common to common

^MigrationNonmigratory

^Weight0.3 Ounces

Perching-like Body

Belly

The ventral part of the bird, or the area between the flanks on each side and the crissum and breast. Flight muscles are located between the belly and the breast.

Breast

The upper front part of a bird.

Cap

The area on top of the head of the bird.

Rump

The area between the uppertail coverts and the back of the bird.

4 and 6 letter alpha codes

The four letter common name alpha code is is derived from the first two letters of the common first name and the first two letters of common last name. The six letter species name alpha code is derived from the first three letters of the scientific name (genus) and the first three letters of the scientific name (species). See (1) below for the rules used to create the codes..

Four-letter (for English common names) and six-letter (for scientific names) species alpha codes were developed by Pyle and DeSante (2003, North American Bird-Bander 28:64-79) to reflect A.O.U. taxonomy and nomenclature (A.O.U. 1998) as modified by Supplements 42 (Auk 117:847-858, 2000) and 43 (Auk 119:897-906, 2002). The list has been updated by Pyle and DeSante to reflect changes reported by the A.O.U from 2003 through 2006.

Field Guide to Birds of North America