TITMICE 



Chestnut-backed chickadee, Penthes- 

 ^ tcsrufcsccnsrufesceyis. 4.75 



Distribution: Pacific Coast district from 

 Alaska south to northern CaHfornia, east 

 to Idaho and INIontana. Two closely 

 related species found in California are 

 the California chickadee and the Barlow 

 chickadee. 



The chestnut-backed chickadee is a bird 

 of coniferous timber, living in the upper 

 branches of the trees where it spends much 

 of its time pecking at the cones of the Doug- 

 las fir. In the summer it seems to keep well 

 to the heavy timber along the crests of the 

 hills, coming down into the valleys in the fall 

 and winter to feed in the lower woods and 

 underbrush along with the bush-tits and 

 kinglets but rarely mixing with the Oregon 

 chickadee in its wanderings. 



The chestnut-backed chickadee may be 

 distinguished from the Oregon by its smaller 

 size and the well-defined rufous brown of its 

 back and sides. Both its song and call notes 

 are weaker than those of the Oregon chicka- 

 dee. The song has more of a wiry quality, 

 and the chickadee-dee notes are far less pro- 

 nounced. When a flock of chestnut-backs, 

 kinglets and bush-tits are ranging through 

 the tree tops together it is often difficult to 

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