Species · GBIF taxon 2487825
Mountain Chickadee
Poecile gambeliAlso known as Mountain Tit
Mountain chickadees are hardy, active little songbirds easily recognized by the white stripe cutting through their black eyeline. They spend their days acrobatically clinging to pinecone scales and bark crevices in western coniferous forests, often hanging upside down to extract seeds or insects. During winter, these social birds form mixed-species foraging flocks, relying on an impressive spatial memory to relocate thousands of seeds they cached earlier in the year.
AcrobaticSocialVocal
Licensed reference(c) Ron Knight, some rights reserved (CC BY) · cc-by
—observations
—countries
—peak records
Least ConcernConservation statusIUCN Red List categoriesLCNTVUENCREWEXLeast ConcernRed List categories, explained →
Diet & prey
- Caterpillars
- Beetles
- Pine seeds
Predators
- Sharp-shinned Hawk
- Northern Pygmy-Owl
- Domestic Cat
ThreatsHabitat loss from logging, climate change altering forest composition, and severe wildfires
HabitatsMontane coniferous and mixed forests
Life span2 to 5 years
Size / weightNot available
Classification
- FamilyParidae
- SpeciesPoecile gambeli
Range data is not available yet.
Interaction riskLow
- Low
- Moderate
- High
- Very high
- Why interaction risk is low
- Safe to observe at a normal distance.
Responsible observation
- Listen for calls: Listen for their dry, hoarse 'chick-a-dee-dee-dee' call, which is distinctly buzzy compared to other chickadees.
- Watch the canopy: Scan the outer branches of pines and firs where they actively forage and hang upside down.
- Provide suet: Attract them to mountain backyards during winter by offering high-energy suet and black oil sunflower seeds.
Frequent Companion Frequent Companion 
Close Relative No machine-readable author provided. Mdf assumed (based on copyright claims). / CC BY-SA 3.0 · cc-by-sa
Close Relative (c) Garth Harwood, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Garth Harwood · cc-by
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