Species: Poecile gambeli
Mountain Chickadee
Species
Show on Lists
Encyclopedia of Puget Sound
Classification
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Craniata
Class
Aves
Order
Passeriformes
Family
Paridae
Genus
Poecile
NatureServe
Classification
Other Global Common Names
Carbonero Ceja Blanca - Mésange de Gambel
Informal Taxonomy
Animals, Vertebrates - Birds - Perching Birds
Formal Taxonomy
Animalia - Craniata - Aves - Passeriformes - Paridae - Poecile - Phylogenetic analyses indicate that North American chickadees comprise two clades, HUDSONICUS-RUFESCENS-SCLATERI versus CAROLINENSIS-ATRICAPILLUS-GAMBELI (Gill et al. 1993).
Ecology and Life History
Migration
true - true - false - May move to lower elevations for winter.
Non-migrant
true
Locally Migrant
true
Food Comments
Feeds on a variety of insect food. Forages in trees and shrubs; searches for food on twigs, foliage, and in bark crevices.
Reproduction Comments
Clutch size usually is 6-12. Incubation lasts 14 days. Young are tended by both parents, leave the nest in about 20 days. Possibly 2 broods annually.
Ecology Comments
Mean territory size has been estimated at 1.5 ha; in White Mountains in Arizona, 71.5 breeding pairs/100 ha have been reported (Bureau of Land Management, no date). Less than 10 breeding pairs per 40 ha in northern Arizona; up to 11 pairs per 40 ha in thinned forest with added nest boxes (Brawn and Balda 1988). Territory size in southwestern Alberta averaged about 6-7 ha, overlapped with territories of black-capped chickadee (Hill and Lein 1989).
Length
13
Weight
12
Conservation Status
NatureServe Global Status Rank
G5
Global Status Last Reviewed
1996-12-02
Global Status Last Changed
1996-12-02
Other Status
LC - Least concern
Distribution
Conservation Status Map
<img src="http://www.natureserve.org/explorer/servlet/GetMapGif?CA.AB=S5&CA.BC=S5&CA.SK=__&CA.YT=S3&US.AZ=S5&US.CA=SNR&US.CO=S5&US.ID=S5&US.MT=S5&US.NN=S5&US.NV=S5&US.NM=S5&US.OK=__&US.OR=S4&US.TX=S5&US.UT=S4&US.WA=S4&US.WY=S5" alt="Conservation Status Map" style="width: 475px; height: auto;" />
Global Range
Resident in mountains from southeastern Alaska, British Columbia, and southwestern Alberta, south to northern Baja California, central and southeastern Arizona, southeastern and central New Mexico, and southwestern Texas.