Nest: Mountain chickadees usually nest in natural cavities or abandoned woodpecker holes, and probably do not excavate their own cavities if suitable ones are available (Bent 1946). Winternitz (1973) reported five nests in live aspen and one in a dead aspen, 6 to 15 feet above ground. In Arizona, we have found five nests in live aspen, three in aspen snags, two in ponderosa pine snags, and one in a white fir snag.
Food: Insects probably make up a large portion of the diet (Bent 1946). Telford and Herman (1963) collected 10 birds in the Inyo National Forest, where there was an infestation of lodgepole needle miners and found 639 needle miner caterpillars in chickadee stomachs. Baldwin (pers. comm.[8]) examined the contents of 17 stomachs from the Wet Mountains, Colorado, and found that 75 percent of the summer diet was insects. Large numbers of spruce aphids were found, as well as flies, beetles, hymenopterans, and other insects. Vegetable material included seeds, spruce buds, and fruits. In southwestern Montana, during summer, mountain chickadees fed on lepidopteran larvae, especially cone worms and spruce budworms (DeWeese et al.[9][in prep.]), and insects made up about 98 percent of the diet.
Gray-headed chickadee
Parus cinctus
L 4¾″
Habitat: Broken forests or edges of aspen, willow, and spruce are the preferred habitat of the gray-headed chickadee. The range is limited to western Canada and Alaska.
Nest: Old woodpecker holes or natural cavities are selected as nest sites. Bent (1946) reported one nest about 6 feet above ground in a spruce snag.
Food: No information could be found in the literature on the food habits of the gray-headed chickadee, but the diet is probably similar to that of other chickadees.