Cavity-Nesting Birds of North American Forests / Agriculture Handbook 511

by Virgil E. Scott; Keith E. Evans; David R. Patton; Charles P. Stone

Chestnut-backed chickadee

Parus rufescens

L 4¼″

Habitat: Coniferous forests of the humid coastal belt from Alaska to central California are the favorite habitat, but this bird is also found in adjacent deciduous woodlands and along streams (Peterson 1961, Grinnell and Miller 1944).

Nest: Nests of this species are in abandoned woodpecker holes or in cavities excavated by the bird itself. Nests have been found in pine, oak, and Douglas-fir snags (Bent 1946).

Food: The diet is made up of about 65 percent animal and 35 percent vegetable matter. Of the animal material, 25 percent is hemipterans, 18 percent caterpillars, 13 percent wasps, 7 percent spiders, and 2 percent beetles. Seeds and fruit make up the vegetable material (Beal 1907).