Eurasian treecreeper

The Eurasian treecreeper or common treecreeper (Certhia familiaris) is a small <a href="/facts/Passerine/qby0MANo">passerine</a> <a href="/facts/Bird/RJF6zwLP">bird</a> also known in the <a href="/facts/British_Isles/4fBquvMU">British Isles</a>, where it is the only living member of its genus, simply as treecreeper. It is similar to other <a href="/facts/Certhia/3pz3xPhl">treecreepers</a>, and has a curved bill, patterned brown upperparts, whitish underparts, and long stiff tail feathers which help it creep up tree trunks. It can be most easily distinguished from the similar <a href="/facts/Short-toed_treecreeper/GoYkIXlJ">short-toed treecreeper</a>, which shares much of its <a href="/facts/Europe/DTAtrKfh">European</a> range, by its different song.
The Eurasian treecreeper has nine or more subspecies which breed in different parts of its range in the <a href="/facts/Palearctic/DqwBQMyP">Palearctic</a>. This species is found in woodlands of all kinds, but where it overlaps with the short-toed treecreeper in western Europe it is more likely to be found in <a href="/facts/Conifer/vDUgqxCx">coniferous</a> forests or at higher altitudes. It nests in tree crevices or behind bark flakes, and favours introduced <a href="/facts/Sequoiadendron_giganteum/lh4ApHTz">giant sequoia</a> as nest sites where they are available. The female typically lays five or six pink-speckled white eggs in the lined nest, but eggs and chicks are vulnerable to attack by woodpeckers and mammals, including squirrels.
The Eurasian treecreeper is <a href="/facts/Insectivore/ukA7UnLr">insectivorous</a> and climbs up tree trunks like a mouse, to search for insects which it picks from crevices in the bark with its fine curved bill. It then flies to the base of another tree with a distinctive erratic flight. This bird is solitary in winter, but may form communal roosts in cold weather.

Eurasian treecreeper open-in-new

Eurasian treecreeper