Chestnut-backed Chickadee Supersp #36 Parus rufescens Townsend        Field Guide IDs: NG-330; G-228; PW-pl 45; AW-pl 545; AM(II)-328 Nest Location Nest Type Eggs & Mating System Dev. & Parental Care Primary & 2ndary Diet.. Foraging Strategy ? I: ? DAYS ALTRICIAL TREE 1.5 feet - 12 feet (To 80 feet) ? 6-7 (5-9) MONOG F: ? DAYS ? SEEDS FRUIT BARK GLEAN BREEDING: Conif and mixed conif-decid forest, primarily in humid regions. ? broods. DISPLAYS: ? NEST: In natural or excavated cavity; lined with moss, fur, plant down, feathers. EGGS: White, sparsely marked with reddish-browns. 0.6" (16 mm). DIET: Includes spiders and their eggs; seeds include mostly conif. CONSERVATION: Winter resident. NOTES: Bird on nest hisses and flutters wings in response to disturbance. May compete for food resources with ecologically similar Hutton's Vireo where both are resident. In winter, form mixed-species flocks with other chickadees, kinglets, nuthatches, warblers, bushtits, Brown Creepers, and juncos. STANFORD. NOTES: Common resident throughout campus, nesting in natural cavities and old woodpecker holes in a variety of trees and habitat types. Territories often adjoin those of the Oak Titmouse, with which the chickadee competes for nest sites and, to some extent, food -- though chickadees tend to forage more often on finer foliage than titmice, which forage more frequently on branches. ESSAYS: Bird Guilds; Bathing and Dusting; Mixed Species Flocking REFERENCES: Hertz et al., 1976; Wagner, 1981.