treecreeper

treecreeper, any of more than a dozen species of small slender birds, with downcurved bills, that spiral up tree trunks in search of insects. They are variously classified in the families Certhiidae and Climacteridae.

The nine species of the genus Certhia constitute most of the family Certhiidae (order Passeriformes). The best known is C. familiaris, a 13-cm- (5-inch-) long streaky brown-and-white bird found in woodlands across the Northern Hemisphere; it is known as the Eurasian treecreeper in Europe. Its tail is stiffened and serves as a prop against the tree. Its nest, a soft cup within a mass of rootlets, is usually placed behind a slab of bark and contains three to nine eggs. Formerly, the American treecreeper or brown creeper (C. americana) of North America was thought to be a subspecies of C. familiaris.

The five species of Climacteris, known as Australian treecreepers, constitute the family Climacteridae, which is sometimes considered a subfamily of the Sittidae (nuthatches) or the Meliphagidae (honeyeaters); formerly, these creepers were included in the family Certhiidae. The Australian treecreepers have brush-tipped tongues and behave rather like honeyeaters, although they resemble certhiids in their drab streaky plumage. As in nuthatches, the tail is not stiffened. The nest, made in a tree hollow, contains one to four eggs. Climacterids are virtually confined to Australia; one species ranges to New Guinea.

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For the Philippine creepers (Rhabdornis), see creeper.