1994/08/01 by Paula K. Kleintjes, Donald L. Dahlsten · 10 citations
Agricultural and Biological Sciences · Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Environmental Science · #Plant and animal studies #Plant and Fungal Interactions Research #Fire effects on ecosystems #Foraging #Library science #Ecology #Archaeology #Geography #Biology #Computer science
paper · open access · doi:10.2307/1369468
published in Ornithological Applications 96(3), 647-653 (Oxford University Press)
openalex publication_date 1994/08/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
The foraging behavior and nestling diet of Chestnut-backed Chickadees (Parus rufescens) was studied during the breeding season (March-May) in a Monterey pine (Pinus radiata) plantation, 1991-1992. Adult birds spent 79% (±7.1 SD) of their foraging time on Monterey pine as a result of prey availability. The majority of this time was spent perch gleaning and hang gleaning prey from the outer needles of the upper tree crown. Nestling diet was composed of approximately 43% Monterey pine sawfly larvae (Acantholyda burkei, Hymenoptera: Pamphiliidae) and 17% tree camel crickets (Gammarotettix bilobatus, Orthoptera: Rhaphidophoridae). Both insects feed upon Monterey pine foliage. Spiders and individual Homoptera, Hemiptera, Coleoptera, Lepidoptera, and Diptera species comprised the remaining 40% of the diet. Monterey pine serves as an important foraging resource for Chestnut-backed Chickadees during the breeding season and may have contributed to the range expansion and population increase of this species in the San Francisco Bay region.