Songbirds

Chestnut-backed Chickadee

Poecile rufescens

A small, energetic chickadee with a dark cap, white cheeks, and rich chestnut-brown back and flanks. It is the most colorful chickadee in North America.

Current regional viewing notes

Coniferous forests, parks, and residential areas throughout Hoonah; readily visits bird feeders and joins mixed-species foraging flocks.

Dataset note: This legacy field can be specific to Southeast Alaska/Hoonah and is not a complete statewide range statement.

Habitat

Coniferous forests, especially Sitka spruce and western hemlock; parks and residential areas.

Diet

Insects, spiders, seeds, and berries; frequent visitor to suet and seed feeders.

Natural history note

Chestnut-backed Chickadees cache thousands of food items each fall, and their hippocampus — the brain region for spatial memory — actually enlarges in autumn to help them remember locations.