Chestnut-backed Chickadees are wonderfully interesting birds. Belonging to the Chickadee family, they make the signature chick-a-dee sound. They maintain several behavioral traits that are characteristic to most Chickadees, and much of the information we have on them is based on general knowledge of Chickadees.
About Chestnut-backed Chickadees
However, these birds stand out and are easily identifiable due to their striking color palette. The contrast of their chestnut brown and white patterns never fails to catch the eye. These birds also have three subspecies, categorized by their geographic location- ssp. rufescens, ssp. neglectus and ssp. barlowi. You can find them in the northeastern coastal and interior forest areas of North America. These birds are non-migratory and stay in their habitats year-round.
Now that your interest is piqued, let us not wait any longer to learn more about Chestnut-backed Chickadees! In this blog, we will delve into the following topics:
● Chestnut-backed Chickadee Photos, Color Pattern, Song
● Chestnut-backed Chickadee Size, Eating behavior, Habitat
● Chestnut-backed Chickadee Range and Migration, Nesting
GET KIDS BIRD WATCHING
Chestnut-backed Chickadee Color Pattern
Chestnut-backed Chickadees are dark brown with gray undertones on their caps from their foreheads to their hindnecks, just below the eyes. Their caps have an outline starting from below by their cheek patch. From their backs through their rumps, they are a deep, bright rufous-chestnut color. From the front view, they appear to have a dark, deep brown, or black bib cover across their malar regions, down their chins, throats, and upper breasts. On the lower end of this bib-like cover, there is a deep contrast with the white of their breasts.
Their sides and flanks are a duller rufous chestnut than their backs. Here again, there is a striking contrast with their white breasts. These parts can also be grayish, dull olive-brown, or grayish brown. The lower flanks sometimes have spots of chestnut hues. The rest of their underparts are dull grayish-white with brown or gray tinges on the under tail coverts.
Their wings are brownish-gray with whitish edging on the inner margins and greater coverts, which also have white trimming. Their tails are brownish-gray with edgings that are a strikingly paler gray. Chestnut-backed Chickadees’ bills are blackish, and their legs and feet are dark gray. Their eyes are dark brown.
Both males and females have a similar color pattern, but can be distinguished from one another during the breeding season. Breeding females develop brood patches, and males acquire large protuberances in their cloacal region (their singular posterior opening). Adult plumages remain fairly consistent throughout the year.
Juvenile Chestnut-backed Chickadees closely resemble the adults. Their plumage follows the same color pattern, save for a few features. Their colors are duller in general and their feathers are packed in a looser manner, especially on their tail. They have dusky bills, brown irises, dark brown legs, and gray feet.
Description and Identification
Chestnut-backed Chickadees are dark, distinct Chickadees that most commonly reside in the Pacific Northwest. Much like other Chickadees, they are small birds with big heads and tiny bills. They have rounded chests.
There are three main subspecies within this species of Chickadees: the Northern variety (or ssp. rufescens), the Marin variety (ssp. neglectus), and finally the Santa Cruz subspecies (ssp. barlowi). We will further dive into the variations between these subspecies when we discuss their size.
Their rich chestnut-brown, the reddish color scheme is what distinguishes them from other species in their family. They are also the smallest and shortest-tailed of the North American Chickadee family.
These Chickadees are not too difficult to distinguish from other birds, visually and auditorily as well. Their calls are higher in pitch and buzzier, as compared to the whistly calls of the other Chickadees. You can identify them easily by their buzzy “tzeet” sound, which we will discuss more later.
Chestnut-backed Chickadee Song
As we have discussed briefly, Chestnut-backed Chickadees do not emit whistly sounds that are common in other Chickadees. They don’t emit the “fee-bee” sound that is sung by Black-capped Chickadees and other close relatives. Instead, they sing more “gargly” syllables repeatedly.
Apart from this, most of the information we have on the song of Chestnut-backed Chickadees is based on the generalized observations on the vocalizations of the Chickadee family that are common to all.
From their early nestling stage onwards, they let out clucks. As they transition to the late-term nestling stage, they start to peep and develop their standard chick-a-dee call.
Their gargle is a jumbled note of short click-like elements, droning out to longer, deeper-pitched notes. They usually use the gargle sound for agonistic purposes, for defending their territories, and in situations of conflict within their flock. For the same setting, they also use a trilled song that is a lengthened, phonologically similar rendition of the gargle sound.
They are not known to chirp or crackle like other Chickadees, but further study is required to confirm that these sounds are completely absent in them.
Female Chickadees use a “broken” vocalization for the purpose of begging for food from their mates during egg-laying and incubation. This vocalization has several versions but is usually close to the D note. The sound is close to a broken “Dee”. When they are in their fledgling stage, juveniles also emit a broken “Dee” to beg for food.
After sexual intercourse, the incubating females let out a See noise, similar to the sexual Sees of other Chickadees. These repetitive sounds have a zigzag in the frequencies, emitting a different frequency per each See.
Chestnut-backed Chickadee Size
As we mentioned earlier, there are three subspecies of this species that have minor variations among them. Individuals belonging to the Northern and Santa Cruz subspecies tend to have a longer culmen, wing chord, tail and tarsus than the Marin Chestnut-backed Chickadees. The Santa Cruz subspecies have the longest tails and tarsi. In overall size, however, the subspecies seldom differ from each other.
Male Chestnut-backed Chickadees are bigger than female individuals on average. Males tend to have longer wing chords, tails, and tarsi than their female counterparts throughout subspecies.
The average body mass of adult Chestnut-backed Chickadees is 0.335 to 0.36 ounces. Their average length is 4.5 to 4.9 inches.
Chestnut-backed Chickadee Behavior
These Chickadees locomote by hopping to their destinations. They also hop while collecting food, going from one foraging perch to another within trees, shrub foliage, and twigs. They fly in straight-line paths.
During winter, they flock from starting point to destination to closely examine foraging samples as they come across them. As they travel in their flock, their flying movement can vary from straight to zigzag or erratic, depending on the flock composition, weather, and other relevant factors.
During the non-breeding season, Chestnut-backed Chickadees stay in their pairings and chase each other. This is also a common occurrence in the spring. More research is required to know the duration and significance of this activity.
These birds have only been observed to be monogamous, with no reports of polygamy or polyandry.
We do not know much about fighting behavior among these birds. They are not very territorial or defensive towards birds of the same subspecies. Inter-species territoriality and aggression are also unlikely.
What do Chestnut-backed Chickadees Eat?
Like most Chickadees, these birds have a diet primarily consisting of insects, seeds, and berries. They feed on most insects available in their habitats- caterpillars, moths, beetles, leafhoppers, small wasps, scale insects, ants. Chestnut-backed Chickadees feed on arthropods such as small spiders as well. They enjoy conifer seeds, berries, and other small fruit.
They forage by hopping between twigs, branches, and other small perches. Chestnut-backed Chickadees forage on elevated surfaces and often hang upside down from perches to reach their underside and glean the insects hidden in nooks and crannies. They probe into the crevices of the bark and sometimes procure their food while hovering. They also store food for later and are not scared of manmade bird feeders to collect seeds.
Chestnut-backed Chickadee Habitat
Chestnut-backed Chickadees gravitate to humid areas, which range from coasts to forests. They have expanded their geographical range over the past 50 years and have colonized forest and suburban areas.
Range and Migration
These birds are not migratory in their truest sense, but they do make certain seasonal movements. They are vagrants in extreme winters, especially in intense snow. They also move higher into the mountains during the late summer. Once the winter begins again, they move back to regions of lower elevations.
The British Colombian population is entirely non-migratory but disperse to regions of higher elevations in higher temperatures of summer and early autumn.
Chestnut-backed Chickadee Lifecycle
Incubation is done solely by the females and usually begins the day before the last egg is laid. This trait is characteristic of all Chickadees. Towards the end of this process and for the entire duration of the incubation period, the male occasionally enters the nest box to feed his mate, but the female generally feeds at the nest hole. She also takes regular breaks from incubation to forage. The female also develops an incubation batch.
The incubation lasts an average range of 12-14 days. In particularly cold and rainy weather this period might be extended by four to six days. The incubation sessions usually last 25 to 35 minutes at a time, for 7 to 10 hours a day. When the female leaves the nest, she leaves the eggs uncovered.
With regard to brooding as well, the female partner takes up the entirety of duties. The brooding frequency declines as the nestlings grow older, and this usually ends when the nestlings are 10 to 15 days old, based upon the climate and other geographical factors.
The chicks reach the fledgling stage at about 18 to 21 days after birth but may stay for 2 or 3 days longer. At 14 days of age, they can fly out from the nests for short distances. They do this for survival in the event that predators approach or if their parents are banded by breeders. However, their flight is not agile at this stage and they can be easily captured.
The female adults eat the shell following the hatching of their young ones.
Their exact lifespan is not widely recorded, but there have been instances of Chestnut-backed Chickadees surviving up to 9.5 years, considerably longer than other Chickadees.
Nesting
The female adults build nests alone. This process usually lasts 7 or 8 days. The mother spends her entire day nest building and spends a full day inactively prior to laying the first egg.
The nest is made of a variety of different materials. The base of the nest usually consists of moss, and sometimes strips or flakes of wood and bark. If available, the most preferred wood here is cedar bark. The upper portion of the nest is made heavily of animal fur. The animal fur is also woven into strips of wood, presumably to camouflage the nest.
During the egg-laying stage and until incubation begins, the mates collect fur or hair to cover the eggs in a layer that can be up to an inch in thickness.
Anatomy of a Chestnut-backed Chickadee
Much like other Chickadees, they are small birds with big heads and tiny bills. They have rounded chests. They are the smallest and shortest-tailed Chickadees. Their bills are pointy and short.
Final Thoughts
Chestnut-backed Chickadees are incredibly fascinating creatures, and we definitely need to prioritize researching them more as a species independent of the general Chickadee family. While they do have several traits that are common to most Chickadees, they are also unique in several aspects. To fully understand their special features, we need to know more about their breeding process and behavioral dynamics.
Their population has held stable throughout the past thirty years. However, they are becoming increasingly vulnerable due to forestry-driven loss of habitat. To ensure that their population thrives, silvicultural strategies have been widely suggested.
Ornithology
Bird Watching Academy & Camp Subscription Boxes
At Bird Watching Academy & Camp we help kids, youth, and adults get excited and involved in bird watching. We have several monthly subscription boxes that you can subscribe to. Our monthly subscription boxes help kids, youth, and adults learn about birds, bird watching, and bird conservation.
Bird Watching Binoculars for Identifying Chestnut-backed Chickadees
The most common types of bird watching binoculars for viewing Chestnut-backed Chickadees are 8×21 binoculars and 10×42 binoculars. Bird Watching Academy & Camp sells really nice 8×21 binoculars and 10×42 binoculars. You can view and purchase them here.
-
Birding Binoculars$49.99 - Kids Binoculars$13.99
Chestnut-backed Chickadee Stickers
Stickers are a great way for you to display your love for bird watching and the Chestnut-backed Chickadee. We sell a monthly subscription sticker pack. The sticker packs have 12 bird stickers. These sticker packs will help your kids learn new birds every month.
Bird Feeders For Chestnut-backed Chickadees
There are many types of bird feeders. Here are our favorite bird feeders for your backyard. We use all of these bird feeders currently. Kids will have a great time watching birds eat at these bird feeders. Using this collection of bird feeders will provide a wide variety and many types of birds.
Best Bird Houses For Chestnut-backed Chickadees
There are many types of bird houses. Building a bird house is always fun but can be frustrating. Getting a bird house for kids to watch birds grow is always fun. If you spend a little extra money on bird houses, it will be well worth every penny and they’ll look great.
