Chipmunk facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Chipmunks Temporal range: Early Miocene to Recent
Eastern chipmunk (Tamias striatus)
Scientific classification
Unrecognized taxon (fix):	Tamiina
Genera
Eutamias Neotamias †Nototamias Tamias

Chipmunks are small, striped rodents that are part of a group called Tamiina. Most chipmunks live in North America. However, one type, the Siberian chipmunk, lives mainly in Asia.

All About Chipmunks

Chipmunk Family Tree

Scientists group chipmunks into a few main types, called genera. There's the Tamias group, which includes the eastern chipmunk. The Eutamias group has the Siberian chipmunk. There's also Neotamias, which has many species found mostly in western North America. Another group, Nototamias, includes species that are now extinct, meaning they no longer live on Earth.

Where Did the Name "Chipmunk" Come From?

The name 'chipmunk' might have come from the Odawa language, an Indigenous language. The word jidmoonh meant 'red squirrel'. People also called them 'chip squirrels' because of the sounds they make. In the 1800s, famous artist John James Audubon even called them 'chipping squirrels' or 'hackees'. Sometimes, chipmunks are also called 'ground squirrels', but this name can refer to other types of squirrels too.

What Do Chipmunks Eat?

An eastern chipmunk placing food in its cheek pouch

Chipmunks are omnivores, which means they eat both plants and animals. Their main foods are seeds, nuts, fruits, and plant buds. They also enjoy grass, plant shoots, fungi (like mushrooms), insects, small frogs, worms, and even bird eggs. Sometimes, they might eat very young baby birds.

When chipmunks live near people, they might snack on grains and vegetables from farms and gardens. This can sometimes make them seem like pests.

Chipmunks usually look for food on the ground. But they are also good climbers and will go up trees to find tasty nuts like hazelnuts and acorns.

As autumn begins, many chipmunks start to gather and store food for winter. They keep most of their food in a special storage area inside their burrows. They stay in their nests during winter until spring arrives. Chipmunks have amazing cheek pouches that let them carry lots of food back to their burrows to store or eat later.

Chipmunk Life and Home

Eastern chipmunk at the entrance of its burrow

Reproduction and Young

Eastern chipmunks, which are the largest type, have babies twice a year. They mate in early spring and again in early summer. Each time, they have about four or five young. Western chipmunks usually have babies only once a year. The baby chipmunks stay in their burrow for about six weeks. After that, they leave to live on their own within two weeks.

Chipmunks in Nature

These small animals are very important for forests. When they gather and hide tree seeds, they help new trees grow. Chipmunks also eat many types of fungi. Some of these fungi help trees grow, and chipmunks help spread their spores (tiny seeds) around, especially for underground fungi like truffles.

Their Cozy Burrows

Chipmunks build long burrows underground. These tunnels can be more than 3.5 meters (about 11.5 feet) long! They have several hidden entrances to keep them safe. Inside, their sleeping areas are kept clean. They even have special tunnels for waste.

Winter Habits

The eastern chipmunk goes into a deep sleep called hibernation during winter. However, western chipmunks do not hibernate. Instead, they rely on the food they stored in their burrows to get through the cold months.

Who Eats Chipmunks?

Chipmunks are a food source for many other animals, like predatory mammals and birds. But chipmunks can also be predators themselves. They sometimes eat bird eggs and even baby birds, like the eastern chipmunk does with mountain bluebirds.

Daily Life and Sleep

Chipmunks typically live for about three years in the wild. Some have lived up to nine years when cared for by humans. They are diurnal, meaning they are active during the day. When kept as pets, they often sleep for about 15 hours a day. Animals that can hide while they sleep, like rodents and bats, tend to sleep longer than those that need to stay alert.

Types of Chipmunks

There are different groups, or genera, of chipmunks:

• Genus Eutamias
  • Siberian chipmunk, Eutamias sibiricus

• Genus Tamias
  • Eastern chipmunk, Tamias striatus
  • Tamias aristus † (This species is extinct)

• Genus Neotamias (This group includes many species, mostly found in western North America)
  • Alpine chipmunk, Neotamias alpinus
  • California chipmunk, Neotamias obscurus
  • Least chipmunk, Neotamias minimus
  • Red-tailed chipmunk, Neotamias ruficaudus
  • Uinta chipmunk, Neotamias umbrinus

(There are many more species in this group!)

• Genus Nototamias † (All species in this group are extinct)
  • Nototamias ateles †
  • Nototamias hulberti †
  • Nototamias quadratus †

Images for kids

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  An eastern chipmunk placing food in its cheek pouch

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  Eastern chipmunk at the entrance of its burrow

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  Tamias striatus, Eastern Chipmunk

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  Eutamias sibiricus, Siberian Chipmunk

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  Neotamias minimus, Least Chipmunk