Chestnut-backed Chickadee

Physical Description
Distribution & Habitat
Diet
Pair Formation & Territoriality
Nesting Behavior
Winter Movement & Dispersal
Return to Species Index

The Chestnut-backed Chickadee not only has a chestnut back, it has chestnut sides, flanks, and a chestnut rump as well. It has a grayish brown cap, a black bib, white cheeks, and a white belly. Males, females, and juveniles all look alike.

Distribution and Breeding Habitat
This species of chickadee inhabits coniferous and mixed coniferous-deciduous forests of the West Coast from central California through Canada, up to Alaska. They are year-round residents.

Diet
Foraging high in trees, Chestnut-backed Chickadees glean a variety of prey from tree bark and foliage. Their diet includes a variety of insects and invertebrates, including wasps, beetles, flies, caterpillars, and spiders. They also eat seeds from the cones of coniferous trees.

Pair Formation and Territoriality
There is no information on mating behavior, pair formation, or territoriality in Chestnut-backed Chickadees.

Nesting Behavior
    Nest Building:  The breeding season begins anytime from mid-March to early April. Chestnut-backed Chickadees excavate their own nest sites, but they also nest in existing tree cavities and nest boxes. Nest sites are usually low, up to 10 feet above the ground, but rarely much higher when in dead trees. The nest is made of moss, bark, grass, ferns, and feathers, and the cup is lined with milkweed down, fur, and hair. It is not known which sex builds the nest.

Egg Laying: The average clutch size is six to seven eggs, but the female can lay anywhere from three to nine eggs. These non-glossy eggs are white or cream in color. Sometimes the eggs are unmarked; sometimes red, reddish brown, and brown specks are distributed all over the egg or wreathed at the large end of the egg.

Incubation: There is no information on incubation or nestling care for this species.

Winter Movement and Dispersal
There is any information on the dispersal and winter movement of Chestnut-backed Chickadees.