Brown Creeper

The aptly named Brown Creeper is always a pleasure to watch. Typically seen flying to the base of a tree and then spiraling up its trunk, probing into crevices and under bark, searching for insects, before flitting down to a lower spot on another tree and then creeping jerkily upwards in a spiral again. Fairly common in the county in forested areas but often overlooked because of its cryptic coloring and soft, very high-pitched vocalizations that can be easy to miss (something like see-see-tsititit-see or just a repeated see; the pitch is too high for many birders to hear at all--particularly older men who, as a group, tend to lose sensitivity to high frequencies). Usually solitary, but may join foraging flocks of Chestnut-backed Chicakadee, Oak Titmouse, Bushtits, and White-breasted Nuthatch in the winter. Nests in appropriate habitat in much of the county. Makes nests in the crevices of shaggy-barked trees.

No other bird we see in Sonoma County looks or behaves like Brown Creeper. Brown Creepers almost never sit still, which makes them very hard to photograph. Mottled white and brown upper parts look like tree bark. Variably white to pale brownish-greyish underparts. White at chin and with a white “eyebrow.” Long, pointed, decurved bill is distinctive. Warmer tones at base of tail. Note the very short legs with large feet and the stiff, forked tail used to brace itself agains tree trunks (an adaptation shared by many woodpeckers). Suggests a wren or a small, skinny, brown woodpecker that’s had a little too much coffee. Unlike Nuthatches, Brown Creepers almost never crawl headfirst down a tree trunk, although they will sometimes back down, tail first.

Trivia: A Brown Creeper will virtually never walk on the ground. Although there are many species of creepers worldwide, Brown Creeper is the only North American species.

English synonyms: American Creeper, American Treecreeper, American Tree-Creeper, Brown Treecreeper, California Creeper, Mexican Creeper, Nevada Creeper, Rocky Mountain Creeper, Sierra Creeper, Southern Creeper, Tawny Creeper, Western Creeper

Brown Creeper in other languages--German: Andenbaumläufer; Spanish: Agateador Americano, Cortecerito, Trepador Americano, Trepadorcito café; French: Grimpereau brun, Grimpereau d'Amérique; Russian: Американская пищуха; Chinese: 美洲旋木雀; Japanese: アメリカキバシリ (amerika kibashiri)

(Language information from Avibase, Birds of Europe (Mullarney et al, Princeton Field Guide Series), and Birds of Asia (Mark Brazil, Princeton Field Guide Series).