Mountain Chickadee
Poecile gambeli
Small gray chickadee with black cap, white cheeks, and gray back. Montane Bay Area resident; moves to lower elevations in winter. Acrobatic feeder consuming insects and seeds; caches seeds for winter.
Plants that support Mountain Chickadee
13 plants
Brownhead Rush
Juncus phaeocephalus var. phaeocephalus
perennial herb
forages for small arthropods on stems and leaves throughout year in montane rush meadows
California Ash
Fraxinus dipetala
tree
Uses ash trees for nesting cavities and year-round foraging for insects
Coastal Wood Fern
Dryopteris arguta
fern
Fern understory habitat for foraging on invertebrates
Desert Mallow*
Malacothamnus hallii
shrub
Gleans insects from foliage year-round
Giant Chain Fern
Woodwardia fimbriata
fern
Dense evergreen fronds provide winter roosting sites and foraging cover
Large-Flowered Fairybells
Prosartes smithii
perennial herb
Fall foraging on berries before high elevation migration; caches seeds opportunistically
Redwood keckiella
Keckiella corymbosa
shrub
gleaning insects and spider eggs from foliage; year-round resident in coastal scrub
Scouler's Polypody
Polypodium scouleri
fern
forages for arthropods among fronds; particularly important in winter months
Western Leatherwood
Dirca occidentalis
shrub
Nesting and foraging habitat in riparian woodlands; year-round resident in coastal ranges
Western Rush
Juncus occidentalis
grass
Utilizes rush stands for winter roosting and foraging cover in mountain wetlands
Western Virgin's Bower
Clematis ligusticifolia
vine
Winter food source in montane California regions
Yellow-eyed-grass
Sisyrinchium californicum
perennial herb
Gleans insects from foliage in California wetlands and riparian areas