Certhia americana
adult
With its downcurved needle-like bill and streaked brown plumage, the Brown Creeper is hard to mistake for any other species. The sexes are similar. Adults have brown upperparts adorned with pale teardrop spots, and whitish underparts suffused with buff on the flanks and undertail. The face has pale-streaked brown cheeks and a whitish supercilium. The short wings have buff barring and the rump and base of the tail are rufous. Western populations tend to be subtly darker than eastern ones. Juveniles are similar to adults but have faint barring on the chest.
In western and northeastern North America, the Brown Creeper occurs year-round. Elsewhere, it is present in spring and summer in the north, but migrates south for the winter. It feeds in a distinctive manner, climbing tree trunks like a mouse, using its tail as a support. Typically it spirals up a tree trunk, then drops to the base of an adjacent trunk to repeat the process.
adult
FACT FILE
LENGTH 5.25 in (13.5 cm)
FOOD Invertebrates
HABITAT Wide range of forested habitats
STATUS Widespread and common resident and migrant
VOICE Song is a series of high-pitched tsee-see-see notes. Call is a thin tsee
