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Mountain Chickadee

Poecile gambeliOrder: PASSERIFORMESFamily: Titmice and Chickadees (Paridae)
Mountain Chickadee Breeding Male (Rockies gambeli) Head Illustration

Head

  • Bill Shape: All-purpose
  • Eye Color: Dark brown, ranging from maroon-brown, to brown-gray, to reddish orange-brown.
  • Head Pattern: No Data
  • Crown Color: Black
  • Forehead Color: Black
  • Nape Color: Black
  • Throat Color: Black
  • Cere color: No Data
Mountain Chickadee Breeding Male (Rockies gambeli) Body Illustration

Body

  • Length Range: 13-15 cm (5-6 in)
  • Weight: 11 g (0.4 oz)
  • Size: Size 2. Small (5 - 9 in)
  • Color: White, Black, Gray, Buff
  • Underparts: White with gray-buff sides and flanks.
  • Upperparts: Gray
  • Back Pattern: No Data
  • Belly Pattern: No Data
  • Breast Pattern: No Data
Mountain Chickadee Breeding Male (Rockies gambeli) Flight Illustration

Flight

  • Flight Pattern: Short slow weak flitting flights on rapidly beating wings. Often folds wings to sides after several quick wing beats; repeated.
  • Wingspan Range: 18-20 cm (7-8 in)
  • Wing Shape: Pointed-Wings
  • Tail Shape: Forked Tail
  • Tail Pattern: Solid
  • Upper Tail: Gray
  • Under Tail: Gray
  • Leg Color: Gray-black
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Family Titmice (Paridae)_blue
Species Poecile gambeli
Length5 - 6 Inches
Wingspan7.5 Inches

Mountain Chickadee

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.

● 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