Eastern chipmunk

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More names for this animal

Anishinaabemowin: Agongos

Dakota: Taṡnaheça hdeṡka

The Dakota and Anishinaabe were among the earliest people to name Minnesota’s plants and animals, as well as to understand them in relation to Minnesota’s climate and seasons. Those original names are still in use, and several are included on the Season Watch website.

Latin (or scientific name): Tamias striatus

The scientific community has a convention of assigning agreed-upon Latin names to every kind of organism. Using scientific names helps people communicate confidently about the same organism and organize lifeforms based on how closely related they are.

Page contents

About the eastern chipmunk

Visual guide to phenology

Graphs and historical data

More resources

Eastern chipmunk perched on a twig, its forepaws are near its mouth. Its back is rounded and marked with high-contrast dark and white stripes. Its overall color is a warm brown.
Eastern chipmunk eating with vegetation around.
​​​​​August 7, 2021, Crow Wing County, Minnesota
Photo © chriskm, some rights reserved (CC-BY-NC)
iNaturalist observation

About the eastern chipmunk

  • Eastern chipmunks are small, chestnut colored rodents with both dark and light stripes on their backs. 
  • They are opportunistic omnivores meaning they will eat small animals when they are easily available, but often they eat acorns, seeds, and berries that they will store in their burrows. 
  • These chipmunks inhabit all of Minnesota except for the southwest corner. 
  • Eastern chipmunks will mate twice a year: once in the spring and once in mid-summer. 
  • Chipmunks are active throughout fall, but then retreat to their burrows for winter.

Visual guide to phenology

Watch for chipmunks' presence (or absence) and behaviors at different times of year.

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Note to observers

This page explains general clues to watch and listen for when observing eastern chipmunk phenology. However, this page does not explain how to identify this animal or collect data in a standardized way.

A photograph showing the neat, circular entrance to a chipmunk burrow. There is snow on the ground.
An eastern chipmunk in the sunlight on snowy ground. Winter lighting makes for patchy blue shadows in the scene.
Chipmunk in a spring woodland scene. Mosses are turning green and in the background, there is a woodland wildflower with pale puple blooms.
Chipmunk on the forest floor eating a seed from a maple tree.
A chipmunk is near the entrance to its burrow. The forest floor has green leafy plants and leaf litter.
In this photograph, a ruler is placed for scale next to the remants where a chipmunk had a meal. Fruits and seeds are emptied and strewn about.
This chipmunk faces the photographer and gives a good view of its pocket-like cheeks. Its face is wide because food items are packed away in its mouth for transport to a food cache.
This photo shows a neat circular hole in the ground, the entrance to a chipmunk burrow. A ruler is set down for scale. The hole is about an inch and a quarter in diameter.
This chipmunk is out and about in December. It's near a patch of snow on an angled tree trunk.

Graphs and historical data

Note: The Orientation Center provides a map, as well as information on reading graphs; interpreting summary statistics, who collected the data and how; and how to download datasets for independent exploration.


Hubbard County

First seen

  • Earliest: March 14 (occurred in 2014)
  • Average: March 28
  • Latest: April 12 (occurred in 2002)
Scatterplot showing eastern chipmunk phenology observations in Hubbard County, Minnesota

Download this dataset (.csv file)

More resources

Eastern chipmunk (Tamias striatus) in the Minnesota Biodiversity Atlas

Eastern chipmunk (Tamias striatus) in Nature's Notebook

 

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Times of year

Co-author: Lynsey Nass, Minnesota Master Naturalist