Poecile gambeli
Silhouette: Andy Wilson · PhyloPic
In 3 days <5% in a week ~10%
The mountain chickadee (Poecile gambeli) is a small songbird, a passerine bird in the tit family Paridae. The specific name honors naturalist William Gambel. The mountain chickadee was formerly 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. Molecular phylogenetic studies have shown that the mountain chickadee is sister to the black-capped chickadee (Poecile atricapillus).
Adults of both sexes have a black cap joining a black postocular stripe behind distinctive white eyebrows. Their backs and flanks are gray and they have paler gray underparts; they have a short black bill, and a black bib. The typical adult wingspan is 7.5 in (19 cm), and the overall length is 5–6 in (13–15 cm). The Mountain Chickadee is one of 55 species of chickadees and tits. The mountain chickadee can be distinguished from other North American chickadees because mountain chickadees are marked with a white line through the side of their black cap, whereas all other North American chickadees have a solid black-cap. Another difference between the... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rocky Mountain National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Yosemite National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Grand Canyon National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Banff National Park | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 5 | Grand Teton National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Yellowstone National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | Jasper National Park | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 9 | Glacier National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 10 | Guadalupe Mountains National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 11 | Zion National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 12 | Death Valley National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 13 | Joshua Tree National Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Calgary | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 2 | Salt Lake City | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Los Angeles | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Denver | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Edmonton | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 6 | Las Vegas | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Seattle | 🇺🇸 United States |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Mountain Chickadee sighting in Death Valley National Park on a given day, based on 16 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 177th most-seen of the 213 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to under 5%, and over a week to about 10%, if each day is a fresh chance.
June and September
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Mountain Chickadee in Death Valley National Park on a given day, against under 5% in July–August and October–May, the lowest months. Those are among Death Valley National Park's driest months, with about 5 mm of rain a month against 30 mm in March.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Mountain Chickadee sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
12th of 13
Of the 13 parks where we can rate Mountain Chickadee sightings, Death Valley National Park ranks 12th at under 5%. The best odds are in Rocky Mountain National Park (United States, about 80%), Yosemite National Park (United States, about 70%) and Grand Canyon National Park (United States, about 60%). All parks ranked.
Same order: Passeriformes
The closest relatives of the Mountain Chickadee that you can see in Death Valley National Park (order Passeriformes, Perching Birds) are Common Raven (about 80%), House Finch (about 60%) and Say's Phoebe (about 60%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Mountain Chickadee is recorded against all the birds logged in Death Valley National Park (16 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
