Mountain Chickadee - Poecile gambeli
General Description
The Mountain Chickadee is a small song bird. Average total length for the male is 128.4 mm and 122.8mm for females. Top of head (to just below eye) is black, forming a black "cap" on head; forehead and superciliary stripe white (distinguishing it from other North American chickadees); chin and throat black, forming a black "bib"; cheeks whitish; back, wings, and tail grayish, washed with olive to tan; breast and belly grayish white, black bill. ( McCallum, D. A., Grundel, R. and Dahlsten, D. The Birds of North America, No. 453, 1999).
Distribution
Montana Range
Observations in Montana: 10905
Montana Counties, Beaverhead, Big Horn, Blaine, Broadwater, Carbon, Cascade, Chouteau, Deer Lodge, Fergus, Flathead, Gallatin, Garfield, Glacier, Golden Valley, Granite, Hill, Jefferson, Judith Basin, Lake, Lewis and Clark, Liberty, Lincoln, Madison, Meagher, Mineral, Missoula, Musselshell, Park, Petroleum, Phillips, Pondera, Powder River, Powell, Ravalli, Sanders, Silver Bow, Stillwater, Sweet Grass, Teton, Toole, Valley, Wheatland, Yellowstone
Habitat
Year round resident of montane coniferous forests of west North America, primarily in areas dominated by pine, spruce-fir and pinon juniper. Occurs in mixed coniferous-deciduous forests. (McCallum, Grundel, Dahlsten 1999).
Food Habits
Insects during warm seasons augmented with spiders. Conifer seeds during cool seasons. (McCallum, Grundel, Dahlsten 1999).
Reproductive Characteristics
Nesting begins in mid-June and lasts into late July. Near Fortine, the earliest eggs were noted on May 28 and the earliest young were out of the nest was June 17.