Chipmunk ID’s help wanted!

Hi people,

Back in 2013 I did a big roadtrip, seeing nearly 50 mammal species. Around half of them were squirrel species. Many chipmunks were seen, but I´m not sure which exactly.

I hope people can help me with the following critters:

Schermafdruk 2015-10-18 11.16.40Schermafdruk 2015-10-18 11.17.40

Two different individuals. Filmed at the northern rim of Grand Canyon National Park. Least or Uinta?

Schermafdruk 2015-10-18 11.19.04Schermafdruk 2015-10-18 11.18.39

Two shots of the same individual, very small. Filmed at Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah.

Schermafdruk 2015-10-18 11.19.58

This looks like a Cliff Chipmunk to me, filmed at Arches National Park, Utah.

Schermafdruk 2015-10-18 11.20.47 Schermafdruk 2015-10-18 11.21.25

Two shots of the same individual, filmed at Arches National Park. Hopi Chipmunk?

Schermafdruk 2015-10-18 11.23.23

Pinedale in SW Wyoming. I think the only possibility is Least Chipmunk?

Schermafdruk 2015-10-18 13.13.27 Schermafdruk 2015-10-18 13.13.57

Two shots of the same individual. Filmed in extreme NE Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. Least Chipmunk?

Schermafdruk 2015-10-18 13.14.18

Filmed in S Yellowstone National Park, Least Chipmunk?

Schermafdruk 2015-10-18 13.19.50

Filmed at Medicine Bow National Forest, SE Wyoming.

Schermafdruk 2015-10-18 13.20.49

Filmed in Rocky Mountains National Park, near Denver.

I hope people can help me out!

Best regards,

Pieter de Groot Boersma

3 Comments

  • vdinets

    The first two are Uinta (Least have a black stripe below the white stripe on the side). The one from Bryce is baby Uinta for the same reason. I think all three Arches chipmunks are Hopi (Cliff Chips usually have dark eyestripes). The one from Palmdale looks like a typical Least from the interior. The one from NE Yellowstone is more likely a Yellow-pine (black side stripe too weak for Least, too strong for Uinta). The ones from S Yellowstone and Medicine Bow are Least Chips (but clearly different subspecies). The last one is tricky: both Colorado and Uinta occur in RMNP, and are similar. On one hand, Colorado would have darker stripes, on the other hand, red on the sides seems to go almost all the way to the tail, which is unusual for Uinta. What part of the park was it in? Uinta chips are mostly at high elevations there.

    • pietervogelfreak

      Hi vdinets,

      Thanks again for your help! Yellow-pine came as a surprise! And the fact that I’ve seen more Uinta then I thought (and conformed it). I was thinking of a Cliff Chipmunk because it looked very grey tot me, going up its flanks. When looking in Mammals of North America (Kays and Wilson) it states identifiable by pale grey back.

      The one from RMNP was pretty high up along a setion of road where people were feeding them en masse,

      Best regards,

      Pieter de Groot Boersma

      • vdinets

        It is unusually grey for Hopi, but note that field guides usually discuss only summer pelage, while winter coats tend to be grayer. Perhaps it was still moulting?

        The ones at pullouts on the road to the pass in RMNP are Uinta chips.

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