The Mountain Chickadee is a common resident of the drier coniferous forests of southern British Columbia and Alberta. The species is monitored in Canada by the Breeding Bird Survey and the Christmas Bird Count, results of which demonstrate wide inter-annual fluctuations but generally little change in the population relative to the early 1970s. Management concerns centre on the retention and availability of decaying trees that are needed for nest sites. This species has been identified as a priority for conservation and/or stewardship in one or more Bird Conservation Region Strategies in Canada.
Mountain Chickadees are generally more common in older forests than in recently logged forests (McCallum et al. 1999). Breeding densities are regulated to some extent by the availability of nest sites; the species readily accepts nest boxes, especially in areas where natural nest sites (e.g., decaying snags, aspens) are uncommon (McCallum et al. 1999). Populations fluctuate with conifer seed abundance (McCallum et al. 1999) and with pine beetle outbreaks (Martin et al. 2006). The species may benefit from retention of aspen and snags during salvage logging after Pine Beetle outbreaks (Environment Canada 2011a, Environment Canada 2011).
Environment and Climate Change Canada and partners have developed Bird Conservation Region Strategies in each of Canada’s Bird Conservation Regions (BCRs). In these strategies, selected species are identified as priorities for one or more of the following reasons:
Select any of the sub-regions below to view the BCR strategy for additional details.