|
Medium
chickadee, gray upperparts, black cap and bib, white cheeks and nape,
and pale gray underparts. The wings and tail are gray. Bill is black,
legs and feet are gray-black. It has a white eyebrow, which differentiates
it from all other North American chickadees.
|
MOUNTAIN
CHICKADEE
Poecile gambeli
PASSERIFORMES
Titmice and Chickadees (Paridae)
Range and Habitat
Resident from interior British Columbia south through Rocky Mountain
and Cascade-Sierra chains to southern California and western Texas.
Preferred habitats include dry coniferous forests, especially Ponderosa
and lodgepole pines. During the summer can also be found in high-elevation
aspen forests. In winter, sometimes inhabits juniper stands and river
bottoms.
SOUND: "Fee-bee-bay", "fee-bee-fee-bee", "chick-adee-adee-adee"
The Mountain Chickadee is one of the most common
birds of the Western montane coniferous forests.
The nest cup of a Mountain Chickadee is molded in fur and then plugged
with looser fur. The unincubated eggs are covered with the fur plug
while the female is not in the nest. The species name honors naturalist
William Gambel.
A group of chickadees are collectively known as a
"banditry" and a "dissimulation" of chickadees.
The Mountain Chickadee has a large range, estimated globally at 2,700,000
kilometers. Native to Canada, the United States, and Mexico, this bird
prefers subtropical or tropical forest and shrubland ecosystems. The
global population of this bird is estimated at 12,000,000 individuals
and does not show signs of decline that would necessitate inclusion
on the IUCN Red List. For this reason, the current evaluation status
of the Mountain Chickadee is Least Concern.
|
