Species · GBIF taxon 2487837
Mexican Chickadee
Poecile sclateriAlso known as Sclater's Chickadee
Mexican chickadees are active, social songbirds of high-altitude pine-oak forests, easily distinguished from other chickadees by their extensive gray flanks and larger black bib. They travel in busy mixed-species foraging flocks during the winter, constantly scanning bark and pine needles for hidden insects. Their buzzy, low-pitched calls sound like a raspy version of the typical chickadee song, echoing through the mountain canyons.
High-AltitudeVocalInsectivorous
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- diet
- Insects, spiders, and coniferous seeds
- family
- Paridae
- threats
- Habitat loss from logging and climate change
- life Span
- 3 to 5 years
LC
Safe to observe at a normal distance.
- Listen for Raspiness: Listen for a deeper, more buzzy call than that of its northern relatives.
- Look Up: Scan the mid-to-high canopy of pine and Douglas-fir trees where they spend most of their time foraging.
- Winter Flocks: Search for them in winter when they join mixed-species flocks with nuthatches and warblers.