Mountain Chickadee

Basic Description

The Mountain Chickadee is a small bird that measures about 4.5 inches in length and weighs around 0.3 to 0.4 ounces. This bird belongs to the family Paridae, which includes other chickadees, tits, and titmice.

Where To Find This Bird

The Mountain Chickadee can be found in the western United States, particularly in mountainous regions of Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon Utah Washington and Wyoming.

Habitat

This species of chickadee prefers coniferous forests at higher elevations ranging from 6-11 thousand feet above sea level during breeding season but are often seen down lower throughout their range during winter months.

Mountain Chickadees also make use of snags (dead trees) for nesting sites by excavating cavities within them or using natural crevices created by branch decay.

Food

Their diet consists mostly of insects such as spiders, beetles and caterpillars but they also eat seeds when available especially from conifers like pines and firs where these birds will glean cones for seeds while hanging upside-down on twigs.

They store food caches they have collected under bark flakes at the base of tree trunks during winter months when insect prey is not readily available.

Cool Facts

– The Mountain Chickadee has a distinctive voice with a high-pitched call that sounds like “fee-beey.”
– They are social birds and can form large mixed-species flocks with other chickadees.
– During harsh winters this bird lowers its body temperature to conserve energy making it one tough cookie.
– Interestingly enough there’s no clear evidence behind why they do so; however scientists theorize that as temperatures drop their metabolic rate slows down.
– These birds also have the ability to remember which caches contain food and can retrieve them months later.
Overall, Mountain Chickadees are a unique bird species with a fascinating array of abilities that make them an important part of the ecosystem in their mountainous regions.