Treecreeper

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Birds

iTreecreepers
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Aves Order: Passeriformes Family: Certhidae Genus: Certhia and Salpornis
Species
Certhia familiaris C. hodgsoni C. americana C. brachydactyla C. himalayana C. tianquanensis C. nipalensis C. discolor C. manipuensis Salpornis spilonotus

The treecreepers (Certhiidae) are a family of small passerine birds, consisting of two subfamilies:

• The typical treecreepers (Certhiinae) are a group of seven species found in Europe and Asia, with one representative, the Brown Creeper, in North America.
• The Spotted Creeper Salpornis spilonotus (Salpornithinae), which is found in India and Africa.

Typical treecreepers

The typical treecreepers are all very similar in appearance, and can present serious identification problems where two species occur together. They do not migrate other than for local movements.

The treecreepers are small woodland birds, brown above and white below. They have thin pointed down-curved bills, which they use to extricate insects from bark. They have stiff tail feathers, like woodpeckers, which they use to support themselves on vertical trees.

Nests are in tree crevices or behind bark.

Following recent studies of cytochrome b mtDNA sequence and song structure (Tietze et al., 2006), the following species are recognized:

• Common Treecreeper or Eurasian Treecreeper, Certhia familiaris
• Hodgson's Treecreeper, Certhia hodgsoni
• Brown Creeper, Certhia americana
• Short-toed Treecreeper, Certhia brachydactyla

• Himalayan Treecreeper or Bar-tailed Treecreeper, Certhia himalayana
• Sichuan Treecreeper, Certhia tianquanensis
• Nepal Treecreeper or Rusty-flanked Treecreeper, Certhia nipalensis
• Sikkim Treecreeper or Brown-throated Treecreeper, Certhia discolor
• Manipur Treecreeper, Certhia manipurensis

They form two evolutionary lineages: the former four species represent a Holarctic radiation, whereas the remaining five are distributed in the area south and east of the Himalaya. Hodgson's Treecreeper, recently realized to be a distinct species, is an offshoot of the Common Treecreeper's ancestor which has speciated south of the Himalaya. The former group has a more warbling song, always (except in C. familiaris from China) starting or ending with a shrill sreeh. The Himalayan group, in contrast, has a faster-paced trill without the sreeh sound.

Spotted Creeper

For information on this species, see Spotted Creeper.

Other birds with creeper or treecreeper in their name

There are two other small bird families with treecreeper or creeper in their name:

• the Australian treecreepers (Climacteridae)
• the Philippine creepers (Rhabdornithidae)