Chestnut-backed Chickadee

The Birdhouse Network?s Most Wanted
Eleventh in a series

By Tina Phillips

Photo by Linda Lamb/Great Backyard Bird Count 2006

Cool facts: The female Chestnut-backed Chickadee builds an elaborate nest. The nest is often multi-layered, with a bottom layer of moss and bark and an upper layer of fur and hair from rabbits, coyotes, deer, skunks, cats, horses, and cattle. During egg laying and early incubation, the chickadee covers its eggs with the fur layer before leaving the nest to forage.

Description: As its name implies, the Chestnut-backed Chickadee (Poecile rufescens) has rufous-chestnut plumage on its back, sides, flanks, and rump. It has a grayish brown cap that extends through the eyes, a black bib, white cheeks, and white belly. Males, females, and juveniles look alike.

Breeding range: Year-round resident along the Pacific Coast from southern Alaska to southern California. Also from southeastern British Columbia to northeastern Washington, northern Idaho, and northwestern Montana.

Preferred habitat: Coniferous forests, mixed deciduous-coniferous forests, forest edges, woodlands, thickets, and burned areas, often near streams. In winter, Chestnut-backed Chickadees are also common at feeders in urban, suburban, and rural areas with large tracts of trees.

Diet: Insects and other arthropods make up 65 percent of the diet; the remainder includes seeds and plant material.

Conservation status: According to the Breeding Bird Survey, populations appear stable on the whole. Significant declines are apparent in most of the range in California and Oregon, but significant increases have been documented in west central British Columbia, Montana, Idaho, and northeastern Washington.

Breeding Bird Survey trends, 1966-2003

Source: Sauer, J. R., J. E. Hines, and J. Fallon. 2005. The North American Breeding Bird Survey, Results and Analysis 1966?2004. Version 2005.2. USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, Laurel, MD.

Causes of decline: Large-scale deforestation has been detrimental. Leaving or creating snags for natural cavities is beneficial. The species has experienced a range expansion in the last 50 years into forested habitats in the central Sierra Nevada and suburban areas in the San Francisco Bay region.

Number of records for this species in TBN?s database: 156

Nest-box tips: Chestnut-backed Chickadees readily use nest boxes. An entrance hole of 1 1/8" is ideal. Put nest boxes up before mid-March, 5?15' high. Face the entrance hole east to southeast and away from prevailing winds. Place 1" of wood shavings in the box to encourage excavation. Monitor nests once or twice per week.

How can you help? Contribute to the study and conservation of cavity-nesting birds by participating in The Birdhouse Network. Go to www.birds.cornell.edu/birdhouse and click on Instructions.

For permission to reprint all or part of this article, please contact Laura Erickson, editor, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, 159 Sapsucker Woods Rd., Ithaca, NY, 14850. Phone: (607) 254-1114. email: lle24@cornell.edu