Brown Creeper

Certhia americana

Order PASSERIFORMES - Family CERTHIIDAE - Subfamily Certhiinae

Menu

1. Cool Facts
2. Description
3. Similar Species
4. Sound
5. Range
6. Habitat
7. Food
8. Behavior
9. Reproduction
10. Conservation Status
11. Other Names

Distinctive in habits and morphology, the Brown Creeper is a small, well-camouflaged bird of woodlands. It creeps along tree trunks, spiraling upward, picking invertebrates from the bark with its curved and pointed bill.

Cool Facts

• The Brown Creeper bears an extremely close physical resemblance to the Eurasian Treecreeper and Short-toed Treecreeper, and was at one time considered the same species as the Eurasian Treecreeper. But studies of vocalizations, including experiments in which they do not respond to each other's songs, support recognition of three separate species.

• In Arizona, Brown Creeper nests often have two openings, one which serves as an entrance and the other as an exit. Entrances face downward and exits upward.

Description

• Size: 12-14 cm (5-6 in)
• Wingspan: 17-20 cm (7-8 in)
• Weight: 5-10 g (0.18-0.35 ounces)

• Small songbird.
• Upperparts streaked brown and white.
• Underparts whitish.
• Long thin bill.
• Long tail.
• Creeps up tree trunks.

• White eyebrow stripe.
• Down-curved bill.
• Long, stiff tail used as a prop.
• Bold, buff band across wings difficult to see.
• Bill black with lower mandible pale at base.
• Eyes dark brown.
• Legs brown.

Sex Differences

Sexes look alike, but male slightly larger and with slightly longer bill.

Immature

Similar to adult, but with light spotting on underparts and duller upperparts.

Similar Species

• Nuthatches are not streaked, and climb headfirst down tree trunks.
• Black-and-white Warbler forages similarly, but is boldly striped black-and-white, and does not use its tail as a prop against the trunk.

Sound

Song is a musical phrase of four to nine high clear notes, varying by region and from individual to individual. Call a very high-pitched "seee."

»listen to songs of this species

Range

Summer Range

Breeds in the forests of the northeastern United States and eastern Canada, from northern Virginia to Newfoundland, and westward across much of central Canada. Also breeds throughout the mountains and coastal regions of the United States and Canada, from southern Alaska to Mexico and Central America.

Winter Range

Found year-round in most of its breeding range, except a belt of boreal forest across Canada, which it occupies only during summer. Winters throughout the United States, including regions where it is absent in summer.

Habitat

Coniferous and mixed coniferous-deciduous forests.

Food

Small insects, spiders, and other invertebrates. Also small quantities of seeds.

Behavior

Foraging

Creeps along tree trunks, gleaning prey from bark with bill. Begins near bottom of trunk and works upward, spiraling around the trunk.

Reproduction

Nest Type

Nest consists of a base made in part out of cocoons and spider egg cases, anchored to inner surface of bark, and a cup made of fine pieces of bark, fibers, leaves, mosses, and feathers. Nest is almost always placed behind a flap of loose bark on a tree trunk.

Egg Description

White, usually with pink or reddish brown spots.

Clutch Size

Usually 5-6 eggs. Range: 1-8.

Condition at Hatching

Helpless and with only sparse down on head.

Conservation Status

Widespread and generally abundant, but habitat loss and degradation is considered a threat to the species in some states, including Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, New Jersey, New York, Idaho, and Montana.

Other Names

Grimpereau americain, Grimpereau brun (French)
Trepadorcito norteamericano, Trepador americano (Spanish)

Sources used to construct this page:

Hejl, S. J., K. R. Newlon, M. E. McFadzen, J. S. Young, and C. K. Ghalambor. 2002. Brown Creeper (Certhia americana). In The Birds of North America, No. 669 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA.