Species: Poecile rufescens
Chestnut-backed Chickadee
Species
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Encyclopedia of Puget Sound
Classification
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Craniata
Class
Aves
Order
Passeriformes
Family
Paridae
Genus
Poecile
NatureServe
Classification
Other Global Common Names
Mésange à dos marron
Informal Taxonomy
Animals, Vertebrates - Birds - Perching Birds
Formal Taxonomy
Animalia - Craniata - Aves - Passeriformes - Paridae - Poecile - (Gill et al. 1993).
Ecology and Life History
Migration
true - false - false - Wanders irregularly inland after breeding season.
Non-migrant
true
Locally Migrant
false
Food Comments
Eats mainly insects gleaned from twigs, branches, and trunks of trees and shrubs; in the breeding season, forages often on outer foliage (needles, leaves, or buds) (Kleintjes and Dahlsten 1994); also eats spiders, some fruit, conifer seeds (Terres 1980).
Reproduction Comments
Clutch size is 5-9 (commonly 6-7). Young are tended by both parents. May nest in loose colonies.
Ecology Comments
Often forms flocks of 4-20 individuals during nonbreeding season, often in loose association with other species (juncos, kinglets, nuthatches, etc.). Recent range expansion in the Sierra Nevada was not accompanied by declines in mountain chickadee numbers (Brennan and Morrison 1991).
Length
12
Weight
10
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.BC=S4&US.AK=S5&US.CA=SNR&US.ID=S4&US.MT=S4&US.OR=S5&US.WA=S5" alt="Conservation Status Map" style="width: 475px; height: auto;" />
Global Range
Resident from south-central and southeastern Alaska to western Alberta, south to southern California and northwestern Montana. Wanders irregularly inland after breeding season. Over the past several decades, range has expanded in the San Francisco Bay area and in the Sierra Nevada; no longer appears to be increasing in the Sierra Nevada, but some populations in the San Francisco Bay area apparently are still increasing (Brennan and Morrison 1991). Planted stands of Monterey pine may have contributed to the range expansion in the San Francisco Bay region (Kleintjes and Dahlsten 1994).