Chestnut-backed Chickadee Parus rufescens
STANFORD LOCATIONS: Common resident throughout campus, nesting in natural cavities and old woodpecker holes in a variety of trees and habitat types. Territories often adjoin those of the Oak Titmouse, with which the chickadee competes for nest sites and, to some extent, food -- though chickadees tend to forage more often on finer foliage than titmice, which forage more frequently on branches. Heads often look blackish.

Nest Location	Nest Type	Eggs Mating System	Dev. Parental Care	Primary & 2ndary Diet	Foraging Strategy
			? I: ? DAYS ALTRICIAL
TREE 1.5 feet - 12 feet (To 80 feet)	?	6-7 (5-9) MONOG	F: ? DAYS ?	SEEDS FRUIT	BARK GLEAN

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BREEDING:	Conif and mixed conif-decid forest, primarily in humid regions. ? broods.
DISPLAYS:	?
NEST:	In natural or excavated cavity; lined with moss, fur, plant down, feathers.
EGGS:	White, sparsely marked with reddish-browns. 0.6" (16 mm).
DIET:	Includes spiders and their eggs; seeds include mostly conif.
CONSERVATION:	Winter resident.
NOTES:	Bird on nest hisses and flutters wings in response to disturbance. May compete for food resources with ecologically similar Hutton's Vireo where both are resident. In winter, form mixed-species flocks with other chickadees, kinglets, nuthatches, warblers, bushtits, Brown Creepers, and juncos.
ESSAYS:	Bird Guilds; Bathing and Dusting; Mixed Species Flocking.
REFERENCES:	Hertz et al., 1976; Wagner, 1981.

Help	Abbreviations	Species-Alphabetical	Species-Taxonomic	Essays-Alphabetical	Essays-Categorized
Except for Stanford Locations, the material in this species treatment is taken, with permission, from The Birder's Handbook (Paul Ehrlich, David Dobkin, & Darryl Wheye, Simon & Schuster, NY. 1988).