GAP Analysis Predicted Distribution Map

Chestnut-backed Chickadee (Parus rufescens)

Species Code: PARU

Legend:
= Core Habitat
= Marginal Habitat

Breeding Range Map
The green area shows the predicted habitats for breeding only. The habitats were identified using 1991 satellite imagery, Breeding Bird Atlas (BBA), other datasets and experts throughout the state, as part of the Washington Gap Analysis Project. Habitats used during non-breeding months and migratory rest-stops were not mapped.

Metadata (Data about data or how the map was made)

Click to enlarge distribution map

Other maps & Information:

Breeding Bird Atlas
NatureMapping observations
during breeding season
NatureMapping observations
throughout the year

This Chickadee is common in coniferous forests throughout western Washington, and in moist, dense conifer forests at higher elevations in eastern Washington.

All zones in western Washington (except Permanent Ice/Snow) and Ponderosa Pine and Oak zones in eastern Washington were core. In most zones, good habitats were low-density development, conifer forests, mixed forests, and wetlands. Adequate habitats were mid-density development, hardwood forests, hardwood dominated wetlands, and alpine parkland west of the crest.

In eastern Washington, the Chestnut-backed Chickadee is more restricted to wetter forest zones and locally more mesic sites within drier zones (such as ravines and north-facing slopes). In the mid-elevation forest zones of eastern Washington, Mountain Chickadees tend to be in dry, open conifer forests, and Chestnut-backed Chickadees are more common in wetter, closed forests. In western Washington, the widespread presence of wet coniferous forests results in the Chestnut-backed Chickadee being the most abundant chickadee outside the Puget Trough.

Translated from the Washington Gap Analysis Bird Volume by Uchenna Bright
Text edited by Gussie Litwer
Webpage designed by Dave Lester