Parus gambeli
L 4¼″
Habitat:This common little chickadee can be found in most coniferous forests of the West from 6,000 to 11,000 feet (Bent 1946).
Nest:Mountain chickadees usually nest in natural cavities or abandoned woodpecker holes, and probably do not excavate their own cavities if suitable ones are available (Bent 1946). Winternitz (1973) reported five nests in live aspen and one in a dead aspen, 6 to 15 feet above ground. In Arizona, we have found five nests in live aspen, three in aspen snags, two in ponderosa pine snags, and one in a white fir snag.
Food:Insects probably make up a large portion of the diet (Bent 1946). Telford and Herman (1963) collected 10 birds in the Inyo National Forest, where there was an infestation of lodgepole needle miners and found 639 needle miner caterpillars in chickadee stomachs. Baldwin (pers. comm.[8]) examined the contents of 17 stomachs from the Wet Mountains, Colorado, and found that 75 percent of the summer diet was insects. Large numbers of spruce aphids were found, as well as flies, beetles, hymenopterans, and other insects. Vegetable material included seeds, spruce buds, and fruits. In southwestern Montana, during summer, mountain chickadees fed on lepidopteran larvae, especially cone worms and spruce budworms (DeWeese et al.[9][in prep.]), and insects made up about 98 percent of the diet.
Parus cinctus
L 4¾″
Habitat:Broken forests or edges of aspen, willow, and spruce are the preferred habitat of the gray-headed chickadee. The range is limited to western Canada and Alaska.
Nest:Old woodpecker holes or natural cavities are selected as nest sites. Bent (1946) reported one nest about 6 feet above ground in a spruce snag.
Food:No information could be found in the literature on the food habits of the gray-headed chickadee, but the diet is probably similar to that of other chickadees.
Parus hudsonicus
L 4¼″
Habitat:The boreal chickadee is fairly common in northern forests of spruce, fir, aspen, and birch (McLaren 1975).
Nest:Natural cavities, old woodpecker holes, or cavities excavated by the chickadees themselves are used for nesting (Bent 1946). McLaren (1975) found 22 nest holes, all in trees or snags with soft heartwood, and believed that softness of the core rather than a preference for a certain tree species is the determining factor in nest site selection.
Food:In summer the boreal chickadee consumes caterpillars, moths, beetles, other insects, and insect eggs; birch cones, seeds, and cedar berries are eaten in the fall and winter (Bent 1946).
Parus rufescens
L 4¼″
Habitat:Coniferous forests of the humid coastal belt from Alaska to central California are the favorite habitat, but this bird is also found in adjacent deciduous woodlands and along streams (Peterson 1961, Grinnell and Miller 1944).
Nest:Nests of this species are in abandoned woodpecker holes or in cavities excavated by the bird itself. Nests have been found in pine, oak, and Douglas-fir snags (Bent 1946).
Food:The diet is made up of about 65 percent animal and 35 percent vegetable matter. Of the animal material, 25 percent is hemipterans, 18 percent caterpillars, 13 percent wasps, 7 percent spiders, and 2 percent beetles. Seeds and fruit make up the vegetable material (Beal 1907).
Parus bicolor
L 5½″
Habitat:The tufted titmouse is the largest North American titmouse and is common throughout the eastern deciduous woodlands. These active and vocal birds are generally found in groups of 2 to 6 in thick timber stands, often near water (Gillespie 1930). The black-crested titmouse, found in southern Texas and northeastern Mexico, is now considered conspecific with the tufted titmouse (33rd supplement, A.O.U. Checklist).
Nest:Nests of the tufted titmouse are very difficult to locate and are not often reported in the literature. Published accounts indicate that these birds nest in abandoned woodpecker holes or natural cavities usually less than 20 feet above the ground. While titmice are quite conspicuous in late fall and winter, they tend to disappear in late spring to nest and molt (Gillespie 1930, Laskey 1957).
Food:The diets of tufted titmice change seasonally. In spring and summer they eat primarily animal matter (89 percent and 82 percent respectively) and spend most of their feeding time in the tree tops. Caterpillars often make up over 50 percent of the animal matter. Common winter foods consist of beechnuts, acorns, dogwood berries, Virginia creeper berries, alder seeds, honeysuckle, seeds of tulip-tree pods. In winter, they spend a larger percentage of their feeding time on or near the ground (Gillespie 1930, Martin et al. 1951).
Parus inornatus
L 5″
Habitat:Oak and pinyon-juniper woodlands from 5,000 to 7,000 feet elevation from Oregon south and west to Texas and New Mexico are the favored habitat of the plain titmouse.
Nest:Plain titmice usually nest in natural cavities or old woodpecker holes. Most reported nests have been in oaks, 2 to 23 feet above ground (Bent 1946). Nest boxes are used when available (Wetmore 1964).
Food:Beal (Bent 1946) examined the contents of 76 stomachs and found 43 percent animal material (true bugs 12 percent, caterpillars 11 percent, beetles 7 percent, ants and wasps 6 percent, daddy longlegs and grasshoppers 5 percent, spiders 1 percent, and 1 percent unreported) and 57 percent vegetable matter (cherries and pulp of larger fruit and leaf galls 32 percent, seeds of poison oak and weeds 25 percent).
Parus wollweberi
L 4½″
Habitat:Bridled titmice prefer chaparral and pinyon-juniper in the Southwest at elevations from 5,000 to 7,000 feet. This titmouse also uses areas along streams where cottonwoods are present (Phillips et al. 1964).
Nest:Almost all nest locations have been recorded in natural cavities of dead and living oak trees from 4 to 28 feet above the ground (Bent 1946).
Food:No published information was found, but the diet is probably similar to that of other members of this genus. All live in similar habitats and spend much of their time foraging in crevices in the bark, on the trunks, and on branches, presumably hunting for adults, larvae, and eggs of insects (Bent 1946).
Sitta carolinensis
L 5″
Habitat:White-breasted nuthatches are non-migratory in most forest types in the United States. They show a preference for deciduous woodlands. In the Rocky Mountains, they occur most commonly below 9,500 feet elevation (Bailey and Niedrach 1965).
Nest:White-breasted nuthatches nest almost exclusively in natural cavities within living trees of mature forests. When natural cavities are unavailable, they may use an abandoned woodpecker hole (Kilham 1968b). In the West, nests have been found in dead aspens and dead portions (lightning strikes) of live ponderosa pines (Bailey and Niedrach 1965, Scott and Patton 1975). Nests are lined with hair and feathers and are often used for more than 1 year.
Food:A myriad of insects, including larvae of the gypsy moth and the forest tent caterpillar, beetles, spiders, caterpillars, and ants comprise the main diet of white-breasted nuthatches throughout the spring and summer. In the winter, nearly all food eaten is mast composed of beechnuts, acorns, hickory nuts, maize and sunflower seeds (Bent 1948). Among the insect foods are several other forest pests including nut weevils, locust seed weevils, and roundheaded woodborers (Scott and Patton 1975). Nuthatches may also be attracted to feeders with suet and sunflower seeds.
Sitta canadensis
L 4″
Habitat:Red-breasted nuthatches nest throughout the high elevations of the Rocky Mountains and in the Canadian boreal forests. They are erratic winter migrants to the eastern forest types. In Colorado, their preferred habitat is the coniferous-aspen type from the Canadian Life Zone to timberline.
Nest:Red-breasted nuthatches will excavate their own cavity if a natural cavity or woodpecker hole is not available or to their liking (de Kiriline 1952). Nests are usually 6 to 40 feet above the ground in rotten stubs or branches of dead trees. Nests have been reported in birch, poplar, cottonwood, oak, and pine. Nests usually are not lined, in contrast to those of white-breasted nuthatches.
Food:Little is known of the food taken by red-breasted nuthatches. They feed on seeds of pine, spruce, and other coniferous trees. The animal food is known to include beetles, hymenoptera, spiders, and ribbed pine borers. They sometimes feed on flying insects (Bent 1948). Birds will visit feeders offering suet during the winter.
Sitta pusilla
L 3½″
Habitat:Clearings and areas that have been burned (more old stumps available for nesting) in southern pine woods are preferred by brown-headed nuthatches. They can also be found in mixed pine and hardwood forests of extreme southeastern United States (Bent 1948).
Nest:Brown-headed nuthatches excavate or partially excavate nest cavities 4.5 to 8 inches deep in dead trees and stumps (often fire blackened) or posts and poles. Bent (1948) gave little evidence that the brown-headed nuthatch will use old woodpecker holes, but they may enlarge and use natural cavities. The nests are located 3 to 46 feet from the ground (only rarely above 13 feet). Because nest entrances are more like a crack in a tree than rounded like a woodpecker hole, nests are difficult to find (Pearson 1936).
Food:Brown-headed nuthatches are mainly insectivorous, and are considered a useful protector of trees. They search for insects and their eggs in crevices of the bark on the trunks, branches, twigs, and needles of pines. They also eat pine seeds (Bent 1948).
Sitta pygmaea
L 3½″
Habitat:Pygmy nuthatches are common in ponderosa pine forests throughout the West. They are also found in Jeffrey pine, Bishop pine, and Monterey pine associations in California (Grinnell and Miller 1944), and in pinyon-juniper woodlands in Arizona (Phillips et al. 1964).
Nest:Nearly all reported nests of the pygmy nuthatch have been from 8 to 60 feet above ground in cavities excavated by the bird itself in dead or live pine trees (Bent 1948). We found 27 nests in ponderosa pine snags and two in dead aspens in the White Mountains of Arizona.
Food:About 80 percent of the diet is animal material, mostly wasps and spittle insects, including some ants, beetles, and caterpillars; the balance is nearly all conifer seeds (Bent 1948).
Certhia familiaris
L 4¾″
Habitat:This inconspicuous small bird is fairly common in the coniferous forests of the Transition and Canadian Life Zones. In Colorado, it breeds from 7,000 feet to timberline (Bailey and Neidrach 1965). Creepers winter throughout the forests of the southern states.
Nest:Sometimes creepers nest in natural cavities and old woodpecker holes, but generally they make their nests between the loose bark and the trunk of a large dead tree (Bent 1948). We found three nests behind the loosened bark of dead ponderosa pines and one in a white fir snag in the White Mountains of Arizona.
Food:Few details are known, but the diet is mainly insects, including weevils, leafhoppers, flat bugs, jumping plant lice, scale insects, eggs of katydids, ants and other small hymenoptera, sawflies, moths, caterpillars, cocoons of leaf skeletonizers, pupae of the codling moth, spiders, and pseudoscorpions (Bent 1948). The small amount of vegetable material eaten is chiefly mast.
Troglodytes aedon
L 4¼″
Habitat:House wrens are common nesters in shrubbery and brush throughout the northern two-thirds of the United States, but they winter in the southern states. They range from the plains to timberline throughout the Rocky Mountains. They are commonly found along the edges of woods, swamps, fields, and in orchards.
Nest:House wrens are aggressive in their nesting habits and will drive other birds from cavities. Nests have been found in a variety of sites including 2-inch pipes used to brace fence posts, nesting boxes, natural cavities, and downy woodpecker holes (Sutton 1930). Nests are usually less than 10 feet above the ground. Diameter of the entrance hole in nesting boxes should be 1 inch.
Food:House wrens are capable of eating large quantities of insects and arthropods, which constitute 98 percent of their diet. Animal items include beetles, caterpillars, bugs, grasshoppers, and ants (Bent 1948).
Troglodytes brunneicollis
L 4″
Habitat:Brown-throated wrens inhabit oak forests, mostly in desert ranges, but can be found up to elevations of 8,000 feet in southern Arizona.
Nest:This wren uses natural cavities or old woodpecker holes in tree trunks or limbs. Like the house wren, it will sometimes occupy recesses about buildings and nest boxes (Pough 1957).
Food:We could not find published information on food habits but the diet is probably insects similar to that of other wrens.
Troglodytes troglodytes
L 3¼″
Habitat:Winter wrens inhabit coniferous forests of spruce, fir, and pine, and underbrush in woodlands in eastern and western United States and Canada.
Nest:Winter wren nests, made from twigs and leaves, are built near the ground in exposed roots or fallen logs or in rocks and crevices (Bent 1948, Wetmore 1964).
Food:Details on food items were not found in the literature, but the diet is probably adult and larval stages of insects (Bent 1948).
Thryomanes bewickii
L 4½″
Habitat:Bewick’s wrens are common and widespread in the West, but uncommon and local in the Appalachians and Ozarks. They are usually found in farmyards, brushlands, fencerows, and suburban areas. Bewick’s wrens are fairly common in the pinyon-juniper forest type, and in mesquite-willow-cottonwood associations along southwestern streams.
Nest:Nests of the Bewick’s wren can be found in a multitude of places. Most nests are cup-shaped and can be either open or closed above. They are usually located in cavities close to the ground (Miller 1941). Nest sites include natural cavities, woodpecker holes, knotholes in fallen trees, fence posts, tin cans, bird boxes, and deserted automobiles (Bent 1948).
Food:Bewick’s wrens, like other wrens, eat large numbers of insects that are injurious to vegetation. Ninety-seven percent of the diet is insects, including primarily hemiptera and coleoptera. In the South they are credited with eating boll weevils (Bent 1948).
Thryothorus ludovicianus
L 4¾″
Habitat:Carolina wrens are common in forest types with thick underbrush throughout the eastern United States. The number in northern populations fluctuates widely depending on the harshness of winter conditions.
Nest:Carolina wrens are quite universal in their choice of nesting sites. These wrens prefer nesting sites that are fairly well enclosed, but they are not totally dependent upon cavities. They are well adapted to habitat conditions provided by man, but also nest in the woods where they prefer tangles and brushy undergrowth. Nests have been found in natural cavities, mailboxes, newspaper cylinders, old hornet nests, and bird houses (Laskey 1948, Nice and Thomas 1948).
Food:Animal food, mostly insects, makes up 93 percent of the Carolina wren’s diet. Of this, beetles, caterpillars, and moths comprise the largest portion. The 7 percent vegetable material is mostly seeds taken in the winter. Since the Carolina wren feeds mostly on or near the ground, deep snow is detrimental to survival. They will visit feeding stations if placed near brush piles (Bent 1948).
Sialia sialis
L 5½″
Habitat:Under natural conditions, eastern bluebirds prefer to use cavities in savannah-like habitats east of the Great Plains (Rustad 1972). They are an edge species and therefore do not live in dense woods or in closely built residential sections of town (Thomas 1946). Like purple martins, bluebirds have taken advantage of nest boxes provided in areas around farms, near open fields, and in orchards.
Nest:Eastern bluebird nesting sites (snags) are often eliminated because of their unsightliness or interference with cultivation. When available, eastern bluebirds nest in old woodpecker holes, hollows of decayed trees, and crevices of rocks (Pearson 1936). They will readily take to hollows in wooden fence posts or correctly sized and placed nest boxes (5 × 5 × 8 inches high with a 1.5-inch hole located 6 inches from the bottom). Boxes should be placed 5 to 10 feet above the ground at the edge of a forest opening or field.
Food:Eastern bluebirds consume 70 percent animal matter and 30 percent vegetable matter. Vegetable intake increases to more than 50 percent in December and January, but is completely lacking in May. Animal matter includes grasshoppers, crickets and katydids, various coleoptera, moths and caterpillars, some hymenoptera and hemiptera, as well as various other invertebrates and small vertebrates. Vegetable matter is mostly wild fruits (Bent 1949).
Sialia mexicana
L 5½″
Habitat:The western bluebird is most abundant in open ponderosa pine forests of the Transition Zone, but may also be found in oak woodlands, pinyon-juniper, mixed conifer, and subalpine forests.
Nest:Nests are usually in old woodpecker holes, but this bird also uses natural cavities. Nests have been reported in oak, sycamore, and pine trees. In Monterey County, California, nests were found from 5 to 40 feet above ground in pine stumps or trees (Bent 1949). This bluebird, like the eastern, also readily nests near humans in bird houses. Nest boxes should be 5 × 5 × 8 inches with a 1.5-inch entrance hole located 6 inches from the floor. Boxes should be placed 5 to 10 feet above ground near forest openings or meadows.
Food:Beal (Bent 1949) examined the contents of 217 stomachs and found 72 percent animal material (grasshoppers 21 percent, caterpillars 20 percent, useful beetles 9 percent, other beetles 16 percent, ants 5 percent, other hymenoptera 1 percent) and 28 percent vegetable material, mostly wild fruits, including elderberries, mistletoe berries, blackberries or raspberries, prunes, cherries, and a few weed seeds.
Sialia currucoides
L 6″
Habitat:The mountain bluebird nests in nearly all timber types of the Rocky Mountain region, and is reported from 800 to 11,000 feet elevation in Idaho (Burleigh 1972). However, this species usually ranges from 7,000 to 11,000 feet in open forests or near forest edges.
Nest:The mountain bluebird usually nests in natural cavities or in old woodpecker holes but will also use man-made structures. Nests have been reported in fir and pinyon snags and aspen trees (Burleigh 1972, Bent 1949). We recorded six nests in the White Mountains of Arizona ranging from 12 to 35 feet above ground in ponderosa pine snags. Five of these were in abandoned woodpecker holes and one was in a natural cavity. Nest boxes should be similar to those for other bluebirds.
Food:This is probably the most insectivorous of the bluebirds. Studies indicate that nearly 92 percent of the diet is animal material, including miscellaneous beetles, weevils, ants, bees, wasps, cicadas, stinkbugs, negro bugs, assassin bugs, jassids, flies, caterpillars, grasshoppers, locusts, and crickets (Bent 1949). Vegetable items include currants, grapes, elderberries, sumac seeds, mistletoe berries, hackberry seeds, Virginia creeper seeds, and cedar berries.
Sturnus vulgaris
L 6″
Habitat:Starlings breed in various habitats that provide adequate nestling food (Troetschler 1976) but are perhaps most numerous in suburban and rural habitat where suitable nesting sites abound. Kalmbach (1928) noted that starlings prefer thickly settled agricultural areas and stated that “They are partial to human association....” During establishment in the United States, starlings first settled in lowland areas and are still abundant there (Small 1974, Royall 1966, Bent 1950). In a southeast Ontario test, starlings preferred old field habitat over five other habitats when sufficient nest sites were available (Gibo et al. 1976).
Nest:Cavities in trees, telephone poles, or fence posts, in drainpipes, mail boxes, or buildings, and in haystacks and cliffs have been used for nesting, as have burrows and open nests of other species (Kessel 1957, Bent 1950). Natural nest sites seem to be preferred over nest boxes (Planck 1967). Competition between starlings and native species for nesting cavities usually favors the starling, but most native species seem to breed in some habitats where starlings are not numerous.
Food:Analysis of contents of 2,750 starling stomachs taken in the northeastern states showed 57 percent animal materials such as insects, millipeds, spiders, molluscs, and a few crustaceans. Insects such as weevils, ground beetles, and plant-feeding scarabaeids such as May beetles were especially important. Of the 43 percent vegetable material, wild fruit was most important, but cultivated cherries, vegetable material, grain, and seeds of various sorts were also used (Kalmbach 1928). In other areas, grapes, blueberries, figs, and other fruit, truck crops, sprouting crops, and prepared livestock feed are eaten.
Acridotheres cristatellus
L 9″
Habitat:The crested myna is native to the plains and lowlands of cultivated southern China, and was introduced in Vancouver, B.C., Canada in the 1890’s. Although the myna has been reported in the states of Washington and Oregon, most of the population is in Greater Vancouver and Vancouver Island. Mynas are apparently dwellers of urban and nearby open field areas (Mackay and Hughes 1963).
Nest:In urban areas, mynas nest in almost any enclosed area, including bird boxes intended for other birds. In wooded areas, holes made by flickers and other woodpeckers seem to be preferred (Bent 1950).
Food:Scheffer and Cottam (1935) examined the contents of 117 adult myna stomachs and found 39 percent animal and 61 percent vegetable matter. Animal matter included flies, moths and caterpillars, wasps, bees, ants, bugs, beetles, grasshoppers, spiders, and earthworms. Vegetable matter included wild varieties of elderberries, cherries, blueberries, crowberries, snowberries, salmonberries, loganberries, and serviceberries. Fruits of cultivated cherries, strawberries, raspberries, and blackberries were also eaten, with some damage done to apples, pears, cabbages, and lettuce.
Protonotaria citrea
L 4¾″
Habitat:The prothonotary warbler is found south of Canada in the eastern deciduous forests of the United States. Other names for this warbler (golden swamp warbler and willow warbler) describe its preference for swamps and periodically flooded areas. The prothonotary often lives near running water with streamside willows (Pearson 1936).
Nest:Nests are almost always in stumps and snags either standing in or near water (Simpson 1969) and often leaning over the water (Pearson 1936). Downy woodpecker and chickadee holes ranging from 2 to 12 feet and averaging 5 feet above the ground are used most often (Pearson 1936). However, the warbler reportedly has a wide tolerance for the type of nesting cavities used. Prothonotaries occasionally even nest in bird boxes and near buildings (Forbush and May 1939).
Food:Prothonotary warblers are primarily insectivorous. They eat ants, spiders, beetles, mayflies, and their larvae. They also will eat the larvae of water insects. This warbler feeds on trunks and branches of trees, shrubs, and fallen logs. They will also perch on rank grasses and water plants and eat small molluscs (Bent 1953).
Vermivora luciae
L 4¼″
Habitat:This warbler inhabits mesquite woodlands and riparian vegetation with willows and cottonwoods from Nevada to the southwestern United States.
Nest:Nests of Lucy’s warblers are usually located in tree cavities or under loose bark in willows, cottonwoods and mesquite. Ironwood, palo verde, and catclaw have also been used for nest trees (Robbins et al. 1966, Bent 1953, Peterson 1961).
Food:Insects are the major food items in the diet of Lucy’s warbler (Bent 1953).
Passer domesticus
L 5¼″
Habitat:House sparrows are well known associates of man, thriving in towns and urban situations. They are also birds of the suburban-rural landscape (Summers-Smith 1963). Optimum habitat requirements are perhaps best met around buildings where waste grain from poultry and livestock feeding can be found. The species is scarce or absent from densely forested and desert regions uninhabited by man (Kalmbach 1940).
Nest:House sparrows nest in eaves, crevices, and holes in buildings; in vines and creepers on walls; in the branches of trees; in nest boxes and natural cavities in trees; and in other assorted locations, perhaps in that order of importance. Open tree nests may be built more often in warmer latitudes, but females seem to prefer hole nests (Cink 1976). Nesting cavities of cliff and bank swallows and house finches may be usurped. Nests are usually at least 6 to 8 feet from the ground, may be as high as 50 feet, and groups or colonies are not uncommon. Nests are domed whether in cavities or the open. House sparrows all too readily accept bird houses erected for purple martins, bluebirds, and other species.
Food:Kalmbach’s (1940) study of the contents of 4,848 stomachs of suburban-rural birds indicated that adult and juvenile (non-nestling) house sparrows take 3.4 percent animal material throughout the year, particularly dung beetles, May beetles, and other Scarabaeidae. Grain from poultry yards, etc., made up the largest percentage of vegetable material (31.5 to 84.2 percent), followed by seeds of grasses and weeds (17 percent), and oats other than that in feed (14.4 percent). Ragweed, crabgrass, smartweed, and pigweed were important plants in the grass and weed category.
Passer montanus
L 5″
Habitat:The European tree sparrow was introduced in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1870. Coincident with the increase in house sparrows, European tree sparrows left the thickly settled parts of St. Louis and established populations throughout the city outskirts, suburban areas, farmyards, and woodlots. The species now occupies approximately 8,500 square miles in extreme east-central Missouri and west-central Illinois. They appear to be slowly expanding their range northward in western Illinois (Barlow 1973).
Nest:European tree sparrows nest in natural cavities, crevices, and woodpecker holes. They appear to be a weak competitor for available nesting sites. Part of the reason for the extension of tree sparrow range north may be related to large numbers of dead and dying American elms (victims of Dutch elm disease) which have provided an increasing source of nesting sites (Barlow 1973).
Food:Tree sparrows feed primarily on the ground on weed seeds, maize, insects, and spiders.