Mountain Chickadee

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

Codes: Common Name: MOCH Scientific Name: POEGAM ITIS Taxonomic No.: 554385

Mountain Chickadee Breeding Male (Rockies gambeli)

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Overview

Mountain Chickadee: Medium chickadee, gray upperparts, black cap and bib, white cheeks and nape, and pale gray underparts. The wings and tail are gray. Bill is black, legs and feet are gray-black. It has a white eyebrow, which differentiates it from all other North American chickadees.

Range and Habitat

Mountain Chickadee: Resident from interior British Columbia south through Rocky Mountain and Cascade-Sierra chains to southern California and western Texas. Preferred habitats include dry coniferous forests, especially Ponderosa and lodgepole pines. During the summer can also be found in high-elevation aspen forests. In winter, sometimes inhabits juniper stands and river bottoms.

Topo Map: Perching-like Body

Listen to Call

Voice Text

"Fee-bee-bay", "fee-bee-fee-bee", "chick-adee-adee-adee"

Interesting Facts

The Mountain Chickadee is one of the most common birds of the Western montane coniferous forests.

The nest cup of a Mountain Chickadee is molded in fur and then plugged with looser fur. The unincubated eggs are covered with the fur plug while the female is not in the nest.

The species name honors naturalist William Gambel.

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

Bird Term Glossary

Author

Gary Owen Dick

Artist

Irina Rud-Volga

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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.

Mountain Chickadee

● Song: "Fee-bee-bay", "fee-bee-fee-bee", "chick-adee-adee-adee"

● Foraging & Feeding: Mountain Chickadee: Eats insects, spiders, eggs of both, conifer seeds, and berries; gleans food from foliage and tree bark, often by hanging upside down.

● Breeding & nesting: Mountain Chickadee: Five to twelve white eggs, sometimes with red brown spots, are laid in a nest made of coarse materials such as moss, lined with plant material including grass, moss, feathers, and hair, and built in a tree or snag from 1 to 23 feet above the ground, or in a nest box. Incubation ranges from 11 to 12 days and is carried out by both parents

● Similar species: Mountain Chickadee: Bridled Titmouse has a tuft and black line encircling the face, connecting the eye-line with the bib. Black-capped Chickadee lacks white eyebrow, lower edge of black bib more ragged, and has pale olive-brown wash on sides, flanks, and lower belly.

Flight Pattern

Short slow weak flitting flights on rapidly beating wings. Often folds wings to sides after several quick wing beats; repeated.

Mountain Chickadee Breeding Male (Rockies gambeli) Body Illustration

● Range & Habitat: Mountain Chickadee: Resident from interior British Columbia south through Rocky Mountain and Cascade-Sierra chains to southern California and western Texas. Preferred habitats include dry coniferous forests, especially Ponderosa and lodgepole pines. During the summer can also be found in high-elevation aspen forests. In winter, sometimes inhabits juniper stands and river bottoms.

^BreedingMonogamous

^Population

^MigrationNonmigratory

^Weight0.4 Ounces

Perching-like Body

Underparts

Belly, undertail coverts, chest, flanks, and foreneck.

Upperparts

Back, rump, hindneck, wings, and crown.

Cap

The area on top of the head of the bird.

Eyebrow

Also called the supercilicum or superciliary it is the arch of feathers over each eye.

Nape

Also called the hindneck or collar, it is the back of the neck where the head joins the body.

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