Mountain Chickadee Identification

The Four Keys to ID

• Size & Shape

  Tiny, large-headed but small-billed, with a long, narrow tail and full, rounded wings.

  Relative Size

  Same size as Black-capped Chickadee.

  sparrow-sized or smaller

  Measurements

  • Both Sexes
  • • Length: 4.3-5.5 in (11-14 cm)
    • Weight: 0.4 oz (11 g)

  © Dennis Leonard / Macaulay Library

• Color Pattern

  Like all chickadees, strikingly black-and-white on the head, gray elsewhere. The white stripe over the eye identifies Mountain Chickadees from all other chickadees.

• Behavior

  Active and acrobatic, clinging to small limbs and twigs or hanging upside down from pine cones. In winter, Mountain Chickadees flock with kinglets and nuthatches, with birds following each other one by one from tree to tree.
• Habitat

  Dry, mountainous forests of the West. The similar Black-capped Chickadee often occurs along streams and in broad-leaved trees, while Mountain Chickadees stick to the evergreens on higher slopes.