Mountain Chickadee

Chickadees are small North American birds in the family Paridae. Related birds outside of North America are known as tits. The mountain chickadee is the sister (the closest living relative on the evolutionary tree) to the black-capped chickadee (post on November 8, 2022). The mountain chickadee has a black cap which is joined by a black postocular stripe behind white eyebrows. 

This photo of the back of a mountain chickadee shows how the black cap merges with the black ocular stripe and the white eyebrows. 

The black postocular stripe (which looks like it is also pre-ocular), the white eyebrows and the black cap, as well as a black bib. All other North American chickadees have a solid black cap. 

They have a short black bill, a black bib, the back and flanks are gray and they have pale gray underparts. 

The two photos above and this, and the next photo, were all taken near the Chilao visitor center in the San Gabriel Mountains above Los Angeles. 

This photo, and the next two photos, were taken below the Buckhorn Campground in the San Gabriel Mountains. 

Illustration from Birds of the World.

Range from Birds of the World.

Note that the range shows them only in the mountains in Southern California but we have them come to our bird feeder in Redlands. See the photos below.