Mountain Chickadee: Winter Socialite

_{This YouTube video was produced by the American Bird Conservancy.}

Any season of the year, the Mountain Chickadee (Poecile gambeli) is a delight to encounter. In their breeding season, they form neighborhoods of adjacent territories in the conifer forests of western Canada and the U.S., which ring in the early spring dawn with dozens of cheerful whistled songs. In winter, groups of Mountain Chickadees are joined by other birds — nuthatches, woodpeckers, creepers, kinglets — to form large dispersed flocks that move together through the forest, following the chickadees’ namesake rallying call.

Mountain Chickadees are social birds, living in groups of up to three mated pairs and juveniles of the last breeding cycle for most of the year, only breaking off into territorial pairs for the breeding season. In fact, while we tend to think of the breeding season as the time when mates are chosen and territories are established, most of this actually occurs in the winter. This is when the social hierarchy is solidified between the individuals in a group, and come spring, the dominant birds will reliably take the best territories. While boundaries may shift somewhat, the same birds will usually hold the same territories year after year. Pair bonds are formed during the winter as well, and usually last for as long as both birds survive.

Also known as: Ischíkiikaate (Apsaalooke for “chickadee”), Western Titmouse, Carbonero Montañés (Spanish), Mrs. Bailey’s Chickadee

Learn more at https://abcbirds.org/birds/mountain-chickadee/