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Home/Species/ Mexican Chickadee

Poecile sclateri

(Kleinschmidt, 1897)

Mexican Chickadee

G5Secure Found in 3 roadless areas NatureServe Explorer →
G5SecureGlobal Rank
Least concernIUCN
Mexican Chickadee (Poecile sclateri). © Brian Genge; Cornell Lab of Ornithology | Macaulay Library.
© Brian Genge; Cornell Lab of Ornithology | Macaulay Library
Mexican Chickadee (Poecile sclateri). © Cory Gregory; Cornell Lab of Ornithology | Macaulay Library.
© Cory Gregory; Cornell Lab of Ornithology | Macaulay Library
Mexican Chickadee (Poecile sclateri). © Lucas Bobay; Cornell Lab of Ornithology | Macaulay Library.
© Lucas Bobay; Cornell Lab of Ornithology | Macaulay Library
Mexican Chickadee (Poecile sclateri). © Bryan Calk; Cornell Lab of Ornithology | Macaulay Library.
© Bryan Calk; Cornell Lab of Ornithology | Macaulay Library
Mexican Chickadee (Poecile sclateri). © Connor Cochrane; Cornell Lab of Ornithology | Macaulay Library.
© Connor Cochrane; Cornell Lab of Ornithology | Macaulay Library
Mexican Chickadee (Poecile sclateri). © Marky Mutchler; Cornell Lab of Ornithology | Macaulay Library.
© Marky Mutchler; Cornell Lab of Ornithology | Macaulay Library
Mexican Chickadee (Poecile sclateri). Photo by U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Public Domain (U.S. Government Work), via ECOS.
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, https://www.usa.gov/government-works
Identity
Unique IDELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.102203
Element CodeABPAW01030
Record TypeSPECIES
ClassificationSpecies
Classification StatusStandard
Name CategoryVertebrate Animal
IUCNLeast concern
Endemicoccurs (regularly, as a native taxon) in multiple nations
KingdomAnimalia
PhylumCraniata
ClassAves
OrderPasseriformes
FamilyParidae
GenusPoecile
Other Common Names
Carbonero Mexicano (ES) Mésange grise (FR)
Concept Reference
American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1998. Check-list of North American birds. Seventh edition. American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C. [as modified by subsequent supplements and corrections published in The Auk]. Also available online: http://www.aou.org/.
Taxonomic Comments
Formerly in genus Parus; transferred to Poecile by AOU (1997). Allopatric populations exhibit mtDNA genetic divergence of one percent; phylogenetic analyses indicate that North American chickadees comprise two clades, hudsonicus-rufescens-sclateri versus carolinesis-atricapillus-gambeli (Gill et al. 1993).
Conservation Status
Review Date1996-12-02
Change Date1996-12-02
Range Extent200,000-2,500,000 square km (about 80,000-1,000,000 square miles)
Number of Occurrences> 300
Range Extent Comments
This is primarily a montane Mexican species, occurring in the Sierra Madre Occidental, Sierra Madre del Sur, and Sierra Volcánica Transversal. In the U.S., breeding is limited to habitat above about 2,130 m in extreme sw. New Mexico and se. Arizona, the “sky islands” extensions of the Sierra Madre Occidental (Ficken and Nocedal 2020).
Occurrences Comments
The distribution of this species in the U.S. is restricted to the higher elevations of two mountain ranges (one in Arizona, the other in New Mexico), although the species is broadly distributed in the mountains of Mexico. There are more than 10,000 observations for this bird in eBird (Ficken and Nocedal 2020).
Ecology & Habitat

Habitat

Montane pine, spruce-fir and pine-oak forest, primarily in mesic habitats, in nonbreeding season also in more arid pine-oak association (Subtropical and Temperate zones) (AOU 1983). Digs a nest cavity in dead wood. Nest cavity contains a cup of fur, hair, feathers and plant material (Harrison 1978).

Reproduction

Clutch size 5-8 (usually 6).
Terrestrial Habitats
Forest - ConiferForest - MixedWoodland - ConiferWoodland - Mixed
Palustrine Habitats
Riparian
Other Nations (1)
United StatesN3
ProvinceRankNative
New MexicoS2B,S2NYes
ArizonaS2Yes
Roadless Areas (3)
Arizona (1)
AreaForestAcres
ChiricahuaCoronado National Forest76,876
New Mexico (2)
AreaForestAcres
Peloncillo (NM)Coronado National Forest43,339
Peloncillo (NM)Coronado National Forest43,339
References (21)
  1. American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1983. Check-list of North American Birds, 6th edition. Allen Press, Inc., Lawrence, Kansas. 877 pp.
  2. American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1998. Check-list of North American birds. Seventh edition. American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C. [as modified by subsequent supplements and corrections published in <i>The Auk</i>]. Also available online: http://www.aou.org/.
  3. Balda, R. P., and G. C. Bateman. 1971. Flocking and annual cycle of the piñon jay, <i>Gymnorhinus cyanocephalus</i>. Condor 73:287-302.
  4. BirdLife International. 2004b. Threatened birds of the world 2004. CD ROM. BirdLife International, Cambridge, UK.
  5. Ficken, M. S. and J. Nocedal. 2020. Mexican Chickadee (<i>Poecile sclateri</i>), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (A. F. Poole, P. R. Stettenheim, and F. B. Gill, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.mexchi.01
  6. Gill, F. B., A. M. Mostrom, and A. L. Mack. 1993. Speciation in North American chickadees: I. Patterns of mtDNA genetic divergence. Evolution 47:195-212.
  7. Hampton, R.R., and D.F. Sherry. 1992. Food storing by Mexican Chickadees and Bridled Titmice. Auk 109(3):665-666.
  8. Harrison, C. 1978. A Field Guide to the Nests, Eggs and Nestlings of North American Birds. Collins, Cleveland, Ohio.
  9. Horn, H. S. 1968. The adaptive significance of colonial nesting in the Brewer's Blackbird. Ecology 49:682-694.
  10. Ligon, J. D. 1971. Late summer-autumnal breeding of the piñon jay in New Mexico. Condor 73:147-153.
  11. Mitchell, W. A. 1988. Songbird nest boxes. Section 5.1.8, US Army Corps of Engineers Wildlife Resources Management Manual. Tech. Rep. EL-88-19. Waterways Expt. Station, Vicksburg, Mississippi. 48 pp.
  12. Moore, W. S., and R. A. Dolbeer. 1989. The use of banding recovery data to estimate dispersal rates and gene flow in avian species: case studies in the Red-winged Blackbird and Common Grackle. Condor 91:242-253.
  13. National Geographic Society (NGS). 1983. Field guide to the birds of North America. National Geographic Society, Washington, DC.
  14. Parker III, T. A., D. F. Stotz, and J. W. Fitzpatrick. 1996. Ecological and distributional databases for neotropical birds. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
  15. Phillips, A., J. Marshall, and G. Monson. 1964. The birds of Arizona. The University of Arizona Press, Tucson, AZ.
  16. Poole, A. F. and F. B. Gill. 1992. The birds of North America. The American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C. and The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, PA.
  17. Tarvin, K. A., and G. E. Woolfenden. 1999. Blue Jay (<i>Cyanocitta cristata</i>). No. 469 IN A. Poole and F. Gill, editors. The birds of North America. The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA. 32pp.
  18. Terres, J. K. 1980. The Audubon Society encyclopedia of North American birds. Alfred A. Knopf, New York.
  19. Thompson, F. R., III. 1994. Temporal and spatial patterns of breeding brown-headed cowbirds in the midwestern United States. Auk 111:979-990.
  20. Williams, L. 1952b. Breeding behavior of the Brewer blackbird. Condor 54:3-47.
  21. Willson, M. F. 1966. Breeding ecology of the Yellow-headed Blackbird. Ecological Monographs 36:51-77.