Bird
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
—observations
—countries
—peak records
Least ConcernConservation statusIUCN Red List categoriesLCNTVUENCREWEXLeast ConcernRed List categories, explained →
Diet & preyCaterpillars, Spiders, Pine Seeds
Predators
- Sharp-shinned Hawk
- Cooper's Hawk
- Northern Pygmy-Owl
ThreatsHabitat loss from logging and climate change
HabitatsHigh-altitude pine-oak and Douglas-fir forests
Life span3 to 5 years
Classification
- FamilyParidae
- SpeciesPoecile sclateri
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 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.
Image unavailableFrequent Companion 
Close Relative (c) Ron Knight, some rights reserved (CC BY) · cc-by
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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