Eurasian treecreeper
common treecreeper
certhia familiaris latin

The Eurasian Treecreeper breeds down to sea level in the north of its range, but tends to be a highland species further south.

Eurasian Treecreeper videos, photos & sounds on the Internet Bird Collection.

The range of the Eurasian Treecreeper overlaps with that of several other treecreepers, which can present local identification problems.

The Eurasian Treecreeper breeds from the age of one year, nesting in tree crevices or behind bark flakes.

The female Eurasian Treecreeper forages primarily on the upper parts of the tree trunks, while the male uses the lower parts.

The Eurasian Treecreeper has nine or more subspecies which breed in different parts of its range in temperate Eurasia.

In Europe, the Eurasian Treecreeper shares much of its range with the Short-toed Treecreeper.

The Eurasian Treecreeper was first described under its current scientific name by Linnaeus in his Systema naturae in 1758.

The Eurasian Treecreeper is the most widespread member of its genus, breeding in temperate woodlands across Eurasia from Ireland to Japan.

The Eurasian Treecreeper typically seeks invertebrate food on tree trunks, starting near the tree base and working its way up using its stiff tail feathers for support.

There are nine to twelve subspecies of Eurasian Treecreeper, depending on the taxonomic view taken, which are all very similar and often interbreed in areas where their ranges overlap.

The Eurasian Treecreeper is insectivorous 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.

The Eurasian Treecreeper has also occurred as a vagrant to the Channel Islands (where the Short-toed is the resident species), Majorca and the Faroe Islands.

The Brown Creeper has sometimes been considered to be a subspecies of Eurasian Treecreeper, but has closer affinities to Short-toed Treecreeper, and is normally now treated as a full species.

Resident bird species include Hazel Grouse, Black Woodpecker, Great Spotted Woodpecker, White-backed Woodpecker, Goldcrest, Eurasian Treecreeper, and Spotted Nutcracker.

The plain tail of Eurasian Treecreeper differentiates it from Bar-tailed Treecreeper, which has a distinctive barred tail pattern, and its white throat is an obvious difference from Brown-throated Treecreeper.

The Eurasian Treecreeper or Common Treecreeper (Certhia familiaris) is a small passerine bird also known in the British Isles, where it is the only living member of its genus, simply as Treecreeper.

The Eurasian Treecreeper is non-migratory in the milder west and south of its breeding range, but some northern birds move south in winter, and individuals breeding on mountains may descend to a lower altitude in winter.

Unlike more specialised birds such as the Eurasian Nuthatch and the Eurasian Treecreeper, both of which forage on tree trunks, the kinglets do not need large woodlands, and their population density is independent of forest size.

A singing treecreeper is usually identifiable, since Short-toed Treecreeper has a distinctive series of evenly spaced notes sounding quite different from the song of Eurasian Treecreeper; however, both species have been known to sing the other's song.

The North American Brown Creeper has never been recorded in Europe, but an autumn vagrant would be difficult to identify, since it would not be singing, and the American species' call is much like that of Eurasian Treecreeper.

As a small woodland bird with cryptic plumage and a quiet call, the Eurasian Treecreeper is easily overlooked as it hops mouse-like up a vertical trunk, progressing in short hops, using its stiff tail and widely splayed feet as support.

Three Himalayan subspecies of Eurasian Treecreeper are now sometimes given full species status as Hodgson's Treecreeper, for example by BirdLife International, but if they are retained as subspecies of Eurasian, they have to be distinguished from three other South Asian treecreepers.

This species shares much of its range with the Common Treecreeper.

Its specific distinctness from the Common Treecreeper (C. familiaris) was recently validated.

It is browner above than the Common Treecreeper (C. familiaris), with a contrasting rufous rump.

Where it shares its European range with Common Treecreeper, the latter species tends to be found mainly in coniferous forest and at higher altitudes.

This treecreeper was formerly included in the Common Treecreeper (C. familiaris), but is now believed to constitute a distinct species.

It has a generally more southerly distribution than the other European treecreeper species, the Common Treecreeper, with which it is easily confused where they both occur.

A Spanish study suggests that forest fragmentation adversely affects the numbers of Short-toed Treecreepers present, as is also the case with the Common Treecreeper.

The Common Treecreeper was first described under its current scientific name by Carolus Linnaeus in his 'Systema naturae' in 1758 .

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.

Its call is more like Common Treecreeper's, but a vagrant Brown Treecreeper might still not be possible to identify with certainty given the similarities between the three species.

Unlike more specialised birds such as Eurasian Nuthatch and Common Treecreeper, both of which forage on trunks, the crests do not need large woodlands, and their population density is independent of forest size.

The plain tail of Common Treecreeper differentiates it from Bar-tailed Treecreeper, which has a distinctive barred tail pattern, and its white throat is an obvious difference from Brown-throated Treecreeper.

It was described as new to science (initially as a subspecies of the Common Treecreeper C. familiaris) in 1995 from 14 specimens taken at four sites in the mountains of western Sichuan, China.

The Eurasian Treecreeper or Common Treecreeper (Certhia familiaris) is a small passerine bird also known in the British Isles, where it is the only living member of its genus, simply as Treecreeper.

However, it is intermediate in its characteristics between Common Treecreeper and Short-toed Treecreeper, and has sometimes in the past been considered a subspecies of the former, although its closest relative seems to be the latter (Tietze et al., 2006).

As a small woodland bird with crypsis plumage and a quiet call, the Common Treecreeper is easily overlooked as it hops mouse up a vertical trunk, progressing in short hops, using its stiff tail and widely splayed feet as support.

The binomial name is derived from Greek; kerthios is a small tree-dwelling bird described by Aristotle and others, and brachydactyla comes from brakhus, "short" and dactulos "finger", which refers, like the English name, to the fact that this species has shorter toes than the Common Treecreeper.

The Short-toed Treecreeper belongs to the northern group, along with the North American Brown Creeper, C. americana, the Common Treecreeper, C. familaris, of temperate Eurasia, and Hodgson's Treecreeper, C. hodgsoni, from the southern rim of the Himalayas.

Barn Swallows, House Martins and Common Swifts nest in the farm buildings, alongside House Sparrows and White Wagtails, while the woodlands are the haunt of the Eurasian Nuthatch, Common Treecreeper, Great Spotted Woodpecker and European Green Woodpecker.

The Eurasian Treecreeper or Common Treecreeper (Certhia familiaris) is a small passerine bird also known in the British Isles, where it is the only living member of its genus, simply as Treecreeper.