Brown Creeper

Certhia americanaOrder: PASSERIFORMES Family: Creeper (Certhiidae)

Codes: Common Name: BRCR Scientific Name: CERAME ITIS Taxonomic No.: 178803

Birdman Mel's Backyard Tips

Overview

Brown Creeper: Small, tree-clinging bird with brown-streaked upperparts and white underparts. White line over eye and long, decurved bill are conspicuous. Legs and feet are pink-buff. Feeds on insects, larvae, nuts and seeds. Strong direct flights of short duration on rapid and shallow wing beats.

Range and Habitat

Brown Creeper: Breeds from Alaska to Newfoundland and southward to the western and northern U.S. Spends winters in breeding range and south to the Gulf coast and Florida. Preferred habitats include deciduous and mixed woodlands.

Topo Map: Tree-clinging-like Body

Listen to Call

Voice Text

"see-see-titi-see", "tsee"

Interesting Facts

Brown Creepers will freeze when threatened, often with outspread wings, and remain motionless for several minutes. At these times, their brown plumage is such an effective camouflage they can be nearly invisible.

They start at the bottom of a tree, spiral upward pecking insects as it ascends, then hops down to the base of the next tree and begins again.

In some areas their nests often have two openings, one that serves as an entrance and the other as an exit.

A group of creepers are collectively known as a "sleeze" and a "spiral" of creepers.

Bird Term Glossary

Author

Gary Owen Dick

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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.

Brown Creeper

● Song: "see-see-titi-see", "tsee"

● Foraging & Feeding: Brown Creeper: Diet consists of various insects, seeds, and some nuts; also come to feeders for suet. Usually forages by creeping along trunks and branches like a woodpecker.

● Breeding & nesting: Brown Creeper: Four to eight white eggs, lightly speckled with red brown, are laid in a cup of shredded bark, feathers, sticks, and moss, usually built against a tree trunk behind a peeling slab of bark. Incubation ranges from 13 to 17 days and is carried out by the female.

● Similar species: Brown Creeper: None in range.

Flight Pattern

Strong direct flight of short duration.

● Range & Habitat: Brown Creeper: Breeds from Alaska to Newfoundland and southward to the western and northern U.S. Spends winters in breeding range and south to the Gulf coast and Florida. Preferred habitats include deciduous and mixed woodlands.

^BreedingMonogamous, Solitary nester

^PopulationFairly common

^MigrationMigratory

^Weight0.3 Ounces

Tree-clinging-like Body

Underparts

Belly, undertail coverts, chest, flanks, and foreneck.

Upperparts

Back, rump, hindneck, wings, and crown.

4 and 6 letter alpha codes

The four letter common name alpha code is is derived from the first two letters of the common first name and the first two letters of common last name. The six letter species name alpha code is derived from the first three letters of the scientific name (genus) and the first three letters of the scientific name (species). See (1) below for the rules used to create the codes..

Four-letter (for English common names) and six-letter (for scientific names) species alpha codes were developed by Pyle and DeSante (2003, North American Bird-Bander 28:64-79) to reflect A.O.U. taxonomy and nomenclature (A.O.U. 1998) as modified by Supplements 42 (Auk 117:847-858, 2000) and 43 (Auk 119:897-906, 2002). The list has been updated by Pyle and DeSante to reflect changes reported by the A.O.U from 2003 through 2006.

Field Guide to Birds of North America

Brown Creeper

Birdman Mel's Backyard Tips

Overview

Range and Habitat

Topo Map: Tree-clinging-like Body

Listen to Call

Voice Text

Interesting Facts

Bird Term Glossary

Author

Related Birds

Brown Creeper

Flight Pattern