The Mexican chickadee is a small songbird, a passerine bird in the tit family Paridae. It is still often placed in the genus Parus with most other tits, but mtDNA cytochrome b sequence data and morphology suggest that separating Poecile more adequately expresses these birds' relationships. The American Ornithologists' Union had been treating Poecile as distinct genus for some time already.
Region
Sierra Madre of Mexico and Southwestern United States
Typical Environment
Occurs primarily in high-elevation conifer and pine–oak forests of the Sierra Madre Occidental and Oriental, extending south through central Mexico. In the United States it inhabits isolated ‘sky island’ mountains of southeastern Arizona and adjacent southwestern New Mexico. Favors mature stands of pine, fir, and mixed conifers with scattered oaks, forest edges, and canyons. Often joins mixed-species flocks outside the breeding season and uses snags and dead limbs for foraging and nesting.
Altitude Range
1600–3200 m
Climate Zone
Highland
Ease of Keeping
Beginner friendly: 1/5
The Mexican chickadee is a montane tit that was long grouped in Parus, but is now placed in Poecile based on genetics and morphology. It is the only chickadee regularly found in Mexico and barely reaches the ‘sky island’ ranges of the southwestern United States. Like other chickadees, it stores food in bark crevices and relies on excellent spatial memory to retrieve caches. It can be told from Mountain Chickadee by its lack of a white eyebrow and its warmer buffy flanks.
Temperament
social and active
Flight Pattern
short rapid wingbeats with undulating bursts
Social Behavior
Outside the breeding season it travels in small family parties and joins mixed-species flocks with nuthatches, warblers, and kinglets. Pairs form in late winter and nest in cavities, often excavating soft or decayed wood and lining the cup with plant fibers and animal hair. Both adults feed the young, and family groups may remain together for weeks after fledging.
Migratory Pattern
Resident
Song Description
Gives a clear, whistled series of 2–4 notes reminiscent of a fee-bee or fee-bee-bay-bee phrase, often repeated. Calls include a dry, scolding chick-a-dee-dee and softer contact notes used to keep flocks coordinated.
