Poecile gambeli
Silhouette: Andy Wilson · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~80% in a week >90%
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 |
Likely
About 40% of wildlife watchers report a Mountain Chickadee sighting in Glacier National Park on a given day, based on 1,211 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 16th most-seen of the 174 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 80%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
September
In that month about 70% of wildlife watchers report a Mountain Chickadee in Glacier National Park on a given day, against about 20% in May and November–January, the lowest months.
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.
9th of 13
Of the 13 parks where we can rate Mountain Chickadee sightings, Glacier National Park ranks 9th at about 40%. 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 genus: Poecile
The closest relatives of the Mountain Chickadee that you can see in Glacier National Park (genus Poecile, Chickadees and Allies) are Black-capped Chickadee (about 30%), Chestnut-backed Chickadee (about 10%) and Boreal Chickadee (about 10%), 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 Glacier National Park (1,211 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.
