Chestnut-backed Chickadee

Poecile rufescensOrder: PASSERIFORMESFamily: Titmice and Chickadees (Paridae)

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.

Listen:

Voice Text

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

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

Field Guide to Birds of North America