The Subspecies of the Mountain Chickadee

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The original publication had this list beginning inside the front cover and continuing on the back cover (inside and out). Here it was moved to the end of the book for readability. Inconsistancies in the formatting of the list (i.e., periods, commas, etc.) were left as presented in the original (with the exception noted above).


Fieldwork was carried on by the California Museum of Vertebrate Zoology during 1917 in the Inyo region of eastern California. In going over the collection of birds obtained, the attention of the writer was arrested by certain peculiarities evident in the Mountain Chickadees. Comparison with series from the Sierras showed the Inyo birds to be paler colored and longer tailed; and in order to appraise these differences in taxonomic terms it became necessary to assemble material representative of the entire range of the species, in so far as possible. The results of the study thus undertaken are presented herewith.
The material involved in the inquiry has amounted to 464 skins of the Mountain Chickadee, derived from the following sources other than the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology: United States National Museum, through Dr. Charles W. Richmond; United States Biological Survey, through Mr. Edward W. Nelson; and the private collections of Messrs. Edward R. Warren, Joseph and John W. Mailliard, G. Frean Morcom, Harry S. Swarth, and J. Grinnell.
As of general interest, and in the nature of an introduction to the systematic analysis to follow, it may be stated that Penthestes gambeli including its subspecies is throughout its range non-migratory, save as a few individuals in pairs or small companies occasionally descend in fall or early winter to lower levels closely adjacent to their mountain habitats. The range of the species roughly extends from and includes the Rocky Mountains to or nearly to the Pacific Coast, and from Alberta and British Columbia south nearly to the Mexican line--somewhat south of it in northern Lower California. Within this general area the Mountain Chickadee is by no means uniformly distributed. Especially towards the south is its range very spotty, the representations on detached mountain tops being wholly isolated. Two main areas of relatively continuous distribution are, however, perceivable--the Rocky Mountain area, and the Sierra Nevada area.