The Mountain Chickadee (Poecile gambeli) is one of the most common birds of the Western montane coniferous forests - the species name honours naturalist William Gambel. It is only about 5inches long; it is similar to the Black-capped Chickadee but has a white line over each eye. Their range is from British Columbia, the , through the Cascade and Sierra Nevada ranges, down to southern California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas. There are two unusual things about Mountain Chickadees. First, they are able to lower their metabolic rate to conserve energy on cold nights. Second, the female will actually “hiss” like a snake to discourage predators while she is sitting on her nest! Mountain Chickadees are insect gleaners. They are very acrobatic and agile when feeding, darting quickly from branch to branch on the outer edges of the trees. They eat insects, spiders, and eggs, from twigs, leaves and branches. They are known to store food in the fall so they can retrieve it later during the winter when food is scarce.
