Brown Creeper, southern Alaska, 2011. Alan Vernon. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

Brown Creeper nest, Tallgrass Prairie Preserve, Oklahoma, 2012. Nicholas Del Grosso. Permission pending.

brown creeper

Certhia americana

Identification: 
This tiny bird blends in with brown bark; it’s mottled brown and white on the back, and white on the front.  It has an eye stripe and a downward curving beak.    

Behavior:
This is the ID tipoff; the Brown Creeper works its way up a tree, spiraling from the bottom and using its tail for support.  It makes a nest in a gap between the bark and trunk of a dead tree. It consumes mainly insects and their larvae; it uses its aptly adapted beak to probe tree bark for organisms like stink bugs, spiders, weeviles, and the like. 

What brings it to the SBG?
Food, cover, nesting sites.  The live trees and dead snags rimming the SBG provide, respectively, food sources and nesting sites.  Habitats like SBG are important because they provide sustenance for these birds in places where development has reduced forest cover.  The Brown Creeper is also a reminder that it’s important to keep not only live trees but dead and decaying ones too.

When can I see it?
Year-round.  The Brown Creeper does not migrate long distances, but it seems to less visible in summer.