Unlimited edition. 18 x 24 inch, museum-quality poster on matte paper.

Because I’m a product of the rural southeast, when I released a poster for the Carolina chickadee, I described the bird as “my childhood chickadee,” which I suppose means *this* chickadee, the chestnut-backed, might be called my “adult chickadee” – although that sounds a little risqué. In any case, since my move west, it’s the chestnut-backed chickadee that I regularly encounter. As I type this note, two are gleaning insects from the branches of the valley and coast live oaks in my suburban yard, moving through the canopy along with an oak titmouse and a white-breasted nuthatch.

Indeed, I most often see this chickadee in my yard oaks. Decades ago, that may not have been the case. This species has expanded its range, in part because it has adapted to suburban habitats as well as new-to-it forest types in the Sierra Nevada range. Historically, it’s thought of as a denizen of dense, moist conifer forests, and that remains true of most of its population, but personal experience often trumps what we know (but haven’t witnessed), so my brain primarily associates the species with oak woodlands. Learning is messy.

You’re unlikely to mistake this chickadee for any of its cousins; it’s the only one wearing a reddish-brown vest, a color that ranges from cinnamon to chocolate depending on the individual and varies in the amount shown on the flanks depending on subspecies. For this color column, I looked at the most common and widespread subspecies, Poecile rufescens rufescens, the one currently feeding ~20 feet away from me.

Note: These archival poster prints feature rich, appealing colors. I encourage customers to take care in handling them until they are framed/protected for display; the darker colors on the matte paper can be scratched. They ship rolled, so customers need to flatten them before framing (or have their framer do so).

Charitable Sales Model: Whenever one of these poster prints is purchased, a charitable contribution equal to 10% of the print’s cost (or $3.60) is made to a nonprofit working to tackle environmental or social challenges. Read more about my charitable sales model here.