Brown Creeper ~ Certhia americana

Brown Creeper ~ Certhia americana


I was pretty excited to see a Brown Creeper yesterday, especially since I had my camera with me. I only see these elusive little brown birds a couple of times a year.

Brown Creepers are nuthatch-like in behavior, moving up (and spiralling around) the trunks of mature trees. They look for insects in the bark crevices, picking them out with their slightly curved needle-like beak.

I have read that you will see some in your yard if other feeder visiting birds are caching or leaving bits of seeds or nuts in the bark.

Their brown plumage blends perfectly with tree bark making them especially hard to spot. This particular Brown Creeper was mainly working large white and bur oak trees at the park.

According to David Sibley in the Sibley Guide to Birds, their call in our area is similar to the Golden-crowned Kinglet - "a very high, thin, quavering seee or sree".

Where have you seen a Brown Creeper before?