Certhia americana

A small (5 inches), strangely-shaped tree-dwelling bird, the Brown Creeper is most easily identified by its mottled brown back, short legs, and long, curved bill. Other field marks include a brown tail, white breast, and white eye-stripes. Male and female Brown Creepers are similar to one another in all seasons. The Brown Creeper breeds in the northeastern U.S.and southern Canada, along the west coast from Alaska to California, and at higher elevations in the Rocky Mountains. This species also breeds in the mountains of central Mexico and locally south to Nicaragua. In winter, this species withdraws from more northern portions of its breeding range, and may be found more widely across the southern U.S.and on the Great Plains. Brown Creepers breed primarily in old-growth evergreen forests, but may also breed in deciduous forests at the southern limits of their range. In winter, this species may be found more frequently in deciduous forests and forests with younger trees. Brown creepers primarily eat bark-dwelling insects, with small amounts of seeds eaten during the winter when insects are scarce. The feeding behavior of the Brown Creeper is unique among birds in North America. Brown Creepers are most frequently observed “creeping” up the sides of large trees, probing the deeply-furrowed bark with their bills to extract insect prey. After reaching the top of the main trunk, Brown Creepers will fly to the base of another nearby tree and start again. With the aid of binoculars, it may also be possible to identify Brown Creeper nests wedged behind peeling pieces of bark. This species is primarily active during the day.

Threat Status: Least concern

Brown creepers (Certhia_americana) are the only species of treecreepers in North America. They are found throughout North America from Canada and Alaska to as far south as northern Nicaragua.

Brown creepers that breed in the southern part of the range live in the same area year-round. Those that breed in the northern part of the range migrate south for the winter. Brown creepers can be found in winter throughout most of the United States except for areas high in the mountains, in the Great Basin, the Sonoran Desert, southern Texas and Florida.

Biogeographic Regions: nearctic (Native ); neotropical (Native )

Brown creepers (Certhia americana) are the only treecreepers in North America. They are found throughout North America from Canada and Alaska to as far south as northern Nicaragua. In Alaska and Canada, brown creepers generally breed along the coast. In British Columbia, brown creepers breed along the western coast and through the central and southern interior. Limited surveys have been done to determine the northern limits of brown creepers. In the western United States, brown creepers are found throughout forested areas of the Rocky Mountains in western Washington, Oregon and the northern mountains of California.

Brown creepers are year-round residents throughout much of their range. However, brown creepers that breed in the northern part of the geographic range migrate south for the winter. Brown creepers winter throughout most of the United States except for high mountain regions, the Great Basin, Sonoran Desert, southern Texas and Florida.

Biogeographic Regions: nearctic (Native ); neotropical (Native )

occurs (regularly, as a native taxon) in multiple nations

Canada

Origin: Native

Regularity: Regularly occurring

Currently: Present

Confidence: Confident

Type of Residency: Year-round

United States

Origin: Native

Regularity: Regularly occurring

Currently: Present

Confidence: Confident

Type of Residency: Year-round

Global Range: (>2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles)) Breeding range extends from southcentral Alaska across Canada to southcentral Quebec and Newfoundland; south to southern California, southern Nevada, central and southeastern Arizona; in the mountains of Middle America through Mexico, Guatemala, and Honduras to north-central Nicaragua; to western Texas, southeastern Nebraska, southern Iowa, southeastern Missouri, southern Illinois, southern Michigan, southern Ontario, central Ohio, West Virginia; in the Appalachians to western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee; and to lowlands of Virginia, Maryland, and Delaware (AOU 1998). During the nonbreeding season, the range extends from southern coastal Alaska and southern Canada southward throughout the breeding range, except higher latitudes and elevations, to southern Texas, the Gulf Coast, and northern Florida, and to lowlands of the western United States and northern Mexico (AOU 1998). The species is resident in the Queen Charlotte Islands and in mountains from southeastern Arizona and southwest New Mexico south to Nicaragua (AOU 1998).

Brown creepers are tiny birds that look like a piece of bark from a few feet away. Their back, head and wings are dark-brown with lots of white streaks and splotches. They have a brown stripe through their eye and a white stripe above the eye that looks like an eyebrow. Their bellies are white with some reddish/brown. They have a long, stiff tail feathers that they use to hold themselves up against tree trunks.

Brown creepers are 11.7 to 13.5 cm long and weigh 7.2 to 9.9 g. Their wing chords are 62.9 to 65.5 mm long. The standard metabolic rate for brown creepers is around 4.0 kcal/24 hours.

Male and female brown creepers look very similar. The bills are one of the only ways to tell males from females. Males usually have a slightly longer bill (1 to 2 mm longer) than females. The bills of both males and females are curved downward.

Range mass: 7.2 to 9.9 g.

Range length: 11.7 to 13.5 cm.

Sexual Dimorphism: sexes alike

Brown creepers are tiny birds with mottled feathers that make them nearly indistinguishable from a piece of bark when viewed at a distance. They have dark-brown upperparts that are heavily streaked with white on the head, back, scapulars (feathers covering the shoulder), and wings. They have a distinctive brown stripe through their eye and a white stripe above it. The underparts are white with red/brown lightly mixed in. They have a long, stiff tail with feathers that are used as props to help the birds move up and around the trunk of a tree.

Brown creepers are 11.7 to 13.5 cm long and weigh 7.2 to 9.9 g. Their wing chords measure 62.9 to 65.5 mm. A standard metabolic rate for brown creepers was measured at 4.0 kcal/24 hours.

Male and female brown creepers are very similar in appearance. Their decurved bills are one of the only ways to differentiate between the sexes. Males tend to have a slightly longer bill (1 to 2 mm longer) than females.

Range mass: 7.2 to 9.9 g.

Range length: 11.7 to 13.5 cm.

Sexual Dimorphism: sexes alike

Length: 13 cm

Weight: 8 grams

Brown creepers live in coniferous forests and forests of mixed coniferous and deciduous trees. They need large trees for hunting and for nesting.

Habitat Regions: temperate ; tropical ; terrestrial

Terrestrial Biomes: forest

Systems

• Terrestrial

Brown creepers live in coniferous forests and mixed coniferous-deciduous forests. They require large trees (dead or alive) for foraging and nesting. In the Pacific Northwest, brown creepers also live in coniferous forests but avoid the forests of the Olympics where trees are much larger and more spread apart. In the Rocky Mountains, brown creepers are found more in older red cedars, spruce-fir, and mixed conifer rather than in younger forests.

Habitat Regions: temperate ; tropical ; terrestrial

Terrestrial Biomes: forest

Comments: Preferred habitat includes forest, woodlands, forested floodplains and swamps. Scrub and parks are also used in winter and during migration. Most often found in coniferous and mixed forests. A study by Franzreb (1985) describes the habitat in Arizona as mixed-coniferous forest, dominated by Douglas-fir, ponderosa pine and southwestern white pine. Within the habitat, birds selected the largest (tallest) trees most often for foraging. Hejl (pers. comm.) reported finding larger numbers in western redcedar stands than in the Douglas-fir/ponderosa pine stands in 1992 field work.

In the eastern U.S. south of the northern conifer zone, populations occur regularly in forested floodplains, and sometimes swamps. Hamas (pers. comm.), based on his experience, suggested that floodplain forests may be important habitat in Michigan. Davis (1978) studied populations in Michigan in two different forest types. One was an old white cedar, balsam fir, and black spruce swamp, with components of sugar maple, red maple, white pine, basswood and paper birch. The other was more topographically varied and drier; tree species included red maple, American beech, with less common white oak, eastern hemlock, large-toothed aspen, butternut hickory, and American elm. In the wetter areas of this site, dead American elms were common, and in the wettest areas, white cedar and eastern hemlock occurred. Davis (1978) found that all nests were in dead trees, and all nest trees were near water. Two were in swamps, while all others were within 60 m of flowing streams.

A component of dead trees is essential for nesting, so brown creepers tend to be associated with older forests. Hejl and Woods (1991) found them in old growth forests (200+ yr), but never in rotation-aged (80 to 120 yr) Douglas- fir/ponderosa pine stands in western Montana and adjacent Idaho. The birds have also been known to move into areas where many trees have died due to flooding or disease (Bent 1948).

Temporary positive impacts have been created by Dutch elm and other forest diseases, and by artificial floodings in forested areas. Both diseases and floodings leave standing dead wood and create large numbers of good nesting sites. However, the suitability of the habitat is, of course, only temporary in these situations. Creepers have been reported to become abundant in such situations (Bent 1948, Davis 1978, Nicholson pers. comm.), suggesting a certain degree of opportunism. Forest, woodland, swamps; also scrub and parks in winter and migration. Negatively impacted by forest fragmentation in southern Wyoming (Keller and Anderson 1992).

Nests usually behind loose slab of bark still attached to living or dead tree, average of 1.5-5 m above ground (Harrison 1979). Also occasionally in knot holes when loose bark is not available (Bent 1948). One observer (Bent 1948) noted that nests were often under the only remaining piece of bark on a dead tree. Davis (1978) found that tree canopy was partially open at each nest site in a Michigan study.

Non-Migrant: Yes. At least some populations of this species do not make significant seasonal migrations. Juvenile dispersal is not considered a migration.

Locally Migrant: Yes. At least some populations of this species make local extended movements (generally less than 200 km) at particular times of the year (e.g., to breeding or wintering grounds, to hibernation sites).

Locally Migrant: Yes. At least some populations of this species make annual migrations of over 200 km.

South of a line from southeastern British Columbia, North Dakota, Minnesota, Ontario, to Nova Scotia, are year round residents and do not migrate. In the mountains of the west they undertake altitudinal seasonal migrations, moving down into the foothills and valleys during the winter (Ryser 1985). In the vicinity of Bozeman, Montana, elevational movements occur Feb 20 to Apr 20 and Sep 10 to Oct 30).

Brown creepers mostly eat small arthropods such as spiders, psudoscorpions, and insects. Some of the insects they eat are stinkbugs, fruit flies, and weevils. They also eat seeds and other plant parts during the winter.

Brown creepers search for food on tree trunks and branches. They almost never hunt for food on the ground. They prefer to search for food on large trees with thick bark because these trees hold more arthropods.

Brown creepers move up along the trunk, sometimes going in circles around it. As they move, they stick their bill into cracks and holes in the bark, searching for food. When they reach the top of a tree, they fly back to the bottom of the tree or to the bottom of another tree, and start searching again.

Animal Foods: insects; terrestrial non-insect arthropods

Plant Foods: seeds, grains, and nuts

Brown creepers primarily eat small arthropods such as spiders, psudoscorpions, and insects. Some insects they are known to eat include stinkbugs, fruit flies, and weevils. Brown creepers also eat seeds and other vegetable matter during the winter.

Brown creepers forage on live tree trunks and occasionally on large branches, but rarely on the ground. Large trees with thick bark tend to have larger densities of arthropods, and are therefor favored. Brown creepers probe tree trunks with their long curved bill. They move upward on the trunk, sometimes spiraling around it, working up the tree to within 1 to 3 m of the top. They then fly to the bottom of the trunk (or the trunk of another tree) and start over.

Animal Foods: insects; terrestrial non-insect arthropods

Plant Foods: seeds, grains, and nuts

Primary Diet: omnivore

Comments: Creepers feed on arthropods gleaned off the surface and in the crevices of tree bark. They feed primarily on the main trunk of trees, moving from bottom to top, almost invariably forward and upward, and then flying to a low point on the next tree when branch density begins to restrict their movement (Willson 1970). Willson (1970) found that brown creepers in southern Illinois had highly specialized feeding behavior. Among a group of six bird species that all fed on insects from tree trunk or branch gleaning, creepers were the most specialized to feeding site in terms of tree structure in both winter and spring. While they favored oaks and maple in winter, and hackberry in spring, they also used several other species fairly equally in spring (i.e. they were less fussy about tree species in spring) (Willson 1970). Eats mainly insects and other invertebrates, including immature stages, obtained from bark of tree trunks and branches; also eats some nuts and seeds (Terres 1980).

Brown creepers compete with other birds, such as Melanerpes erythrocephalus, for food and for territories.

Molothrus ater sometimes lay their eggs in the nests of brown creepers. When this happens, the brown creeper parents often raise the brown-headed cowbird chicks along with their own chicks.

Predators of brown creeper eggs, nestlings and adults include red squirrels (Tamiasciurus_hudsonicus), domestic cats (Felis_silvestris), northern flying squirrels (Glaucomys_sabrinus), golden-mantled ground squirrels (Spermophilus_lateralis), wood rats (genus Neotoma), and deer mice (Peromyscus_maniculatus). When brown creepers see a predator nearby, they lay flat against the bark of a tree to hide themselves.

Known Predators:

• red squirrels (Tamiasciurus_hudsonicus)
• domestic cats (Felis_silvestris)
• northern flying squirrels (Glaucomys_sabrinus)
• golden-mantled ground squirrels (Spermophilus_lateralis)
• wood rats (Neotoma)
• deer mice (Peromyscus_maniculatus)

Anti-predator Adaptations: cryptic

Brown creepers interact with other birds such as red-headed woodpeckers (Melanerpes erythrocephalus). Interactions can become hostile during territory establishment. Brown creepers compete for territories as well as food. They are also occasional hosts for parasitic brown-headed cowbirds (Molothrus ater).

Predators of brown creeper eggs, nestlings and adults include red squirrels (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus), domestic cats (Felis silvestris), northern flying squirrels (Glaucomys sabrinus), golden-mantled ground squirrels (Spermophilus lateralis), wood rats (genus Neotoma), and deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus). Adults respond by freezing and flattening their bodies against a tree trunk.

Known Predators:

• red squirrels (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus)
• domestic cats (Felis silvestris)
• northern flying squirrels (Glaucomys sabrinus)
• golden-mantled ground squirrels (Spermophilus lateralis)
• wood rats (Neotoma)
• deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus)

Anti-predator Adaptations: cryptic

Certhia americana is prey of:
Neotoma
Spermophilus lateralis
Tamiasciurus hudsonicus
Glaucomys sabrinus
Peromyscus maniculatus
Felis silvestris

This list may not be complete but is based on published studies.

Certhia americana preys on:
non-insect arthropods
Arthropoda
Insecta

This list may not be complete but is based on published studies.

Note: For many non-migratory species, occurrences are roughly equivalent to populations.

Estimated Number of Occurrences: > 300

Comments: This species is represented by a large number of occurrences (subpopulations).

>1,000,000 individuals

Comments: Global population was estimated at 5,400,000 individuals by Rich et al. (2004). Over 16,000 pairs were estimated in a small portion of Ontario alone. The highest density populations are in the heavily wooded Canadian Shield area of Ontario, where populations reach 100 pairs per square kilometer over a large area.

Territories ranged from 2.3 to 6.4 ha in a study in Michigan (Davis 1978). Rough approximations of density, calculated from maps of nest locations at the study sites in Davis (1978) yielded these figures for three study sites: two ha per pair, and 1.5 ha per pair for two areas of swamp forest habitat; 5.6 ha per pair in a more upland site. In the latter area, nests were close to streams, so that the area of appropriate habitat may have been smaller than the overall study area, and 5.6 ha per pair may be exaggerated by the inclusion of inappropriate habitat away from streams.

Few observations of predators appear in the literature. One incidence of a creeper chased (but not captured) by a northern shrike is recounted in Bent (1948). Creepers are known to respond defensively to the scream of a hawk (Bent 1948, Davis 1978).

NON-BREEDING: Bent (1948) reported that creepers are quite solitary, but there have been reports of communal roosting and huddling in winter. Fledglings roost in a characteristic huddle (Davis 1978, Ryser 1985). They were reported to move in mixed-species flocks in the winter in Louisiana, Maryland, and in summer in Maine (Morse 1970). In Louisiana, they were nearly always observed in mixed-species flocks in winter rather than singly (Morse 1970).

Brown creepers communicate mostly using songs. When fighting for a territory, males sing a high pitched song. Males sing most during the breeding season.

Communication Channels: visual ; acoustic

Brown creepers communicate primarily using vocalizations. When fighting for a territory, males sing a high pitched song. Vocalizations by males can be heard during the breeding season. The sounds are high and thin and vary within populations.

Communication Channels: visual ; acoustic

The oldest known brown creeper lived to be 4 years and 7 months old.

Range lifespan
Status: wild: 4.6 (high) years.

Average lifespan
Status: wild: 55 months.

The maximum recorded age for a banded brown creeper was 4 years, 7 months. However, little is actually known about the lifespan/longevity of brown creepers.

Range lifespan
Status: wild: 4.6 (high) years.

Average lifespan
Status: wild: 55 months.

Observations: Little is known about the longevity of these animals, but they have been reported to live up to 4.6 years in the wild (Blumstein and Moller 2008).

Brown creepers are monogamous (one male mates with one female). Males sing songs to attract a mate. If a female is interested in a male, they chase each other around while fluttering their wings and exposing their white bellies. The male may feed the female during courtship and incubation. Breeding pairs remain together for several weeks after their chicks are able to fly.

Mating System: monogamous

Brown creepers breed between April and July. The male and female chose the nest site together, but the female builds the nest. Nests are usually built on the trunk of a dead or dying tree, underneath a piece of loose bark. They take 6 to 30 days to build and are made of twigs and lined with feathers, leaves, lichens and other soft materials.

The female lays 3 to 7 eggs. She begins incubating after she has laid the last egg. The female does all of the incubation and the male brings food to her. Incubation lasts 13 to 17 days.

The chicks are helpless when they hatch. They all hatch on the same day. The female broods them during bad weather. Both parents feed them. The chicks leave the nest after 15 to 17 days, but the parents keep feeding them for at least two weeks. The chicks can probably breed the next summer.

Breeding interval: Brown creepers breed once per year and raise one brood per breeding season.

Breeding season: Breeding occurs from April through July

Range eggs per season: 3 to 7.

Range time to hatching: 13 to 17 days.

Range fledging age: 15 to 17 days.

Range time to independence: 14 (low) days.

Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female): 1 years.

Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (male): 1 years.

Key Reproductive Features: seasonal breeding ; gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate); fertilization

Both parents find the nest site, but the female builds the nest. The female incubates the eggs and broods the chicks. Both parents feed the chicks during while they are in the nest, and for a few weeks after they leave the nest. Both parents also carry eggshells away from the nest and remove the chicks’ fecal sacs from the nest to keep it clean.

Parental Investment: altricial ; pre-fertilization (Provisioning, Protecting: Female); pre-hatching/birth (Protecting: Female); pre-weaning/fledging (Provisioning: Male, Female, Protecting: Male, Female); pre-independence (Provisioning: Male, Female, Protecting: Male, Female)

Brown creepers are monogamous. Males sing to attract a mate. The pair then chases one another, rapidly fluttering their wings and exposing their white undersides. Courtship feeding (where the male feeds the female) occurs throughout the nesting cycle until the eggs have hatched. Breeding pairs remain together up to several weeks after their chicks are ready to fly.

Mating System: monogamous

Brown creepers generally begin breeding in April, with breeding season peaking in May, June and July. Incubation in Michigan has been recorded as early as May 20.

The male and female chose the nest site together, but the female builds the nest. Nests are almost always built between the trunk and a loose piece of bark on a dead or dying tree. However, nests are occasionally found in locations such as inside a stack of concrete blocks and under loosened roof shingles. Nests take 6 to 30 days to build and are lined with feathers and bark.

The female lays 3 to 7 eggs and begins incubation after the last egg is laid. Incubation lasts 13 to 17 days. The female does all of the incubation and the male brings food to her.

The altricial chicks all hatch on the same day. The female broods them during bad weather, and both parents feed them. They fledge after 15 to 17 days, but continue to be fed by the parents for at least two weeks.

Data on the exact age of first breeding and intervals between breeding are scarce, although it is believed that breeding occurs in the first year.

Breeding interval: Brown creepers breed once per year and raise one brood per breeding season.

Breeding season: Breeding occurs from April through July

Range eggs per season: 3 to 7.

Range time to hatching: 13 to 17 days.

Range fledging age: 15 to 17 days.

Range time to independence: 14 (low) days.

Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female): 1 years.

Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (male): 1 years.

Key Reproductive Features: seasonal breeding ; gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate); fertilization

Both parents search for a nest site, but the female builds the nest. The female does all of the incubation and brooding, during which the male feeds her. Both parents feed the chicks during the nestling and fledgling stages, before they become independent. Both adults also carry eggshells and fecal sacs away from the nest.

Parental Investment: altricial ; pre-fertilization (Provisioning, Protecting: Female); pre-hatching/birth (Protecting: Female); pre-weaning/fledging (Provisioning: Male, Female, Protecting: Male, Female); pre-independence (Provisioning: Male, Female, Protecting: Male, Female)

Four to eight eggs, most commonly five or six, are laid (Bent 1948, Davis 1978). Incubation begins once the entire clutch is laid (Davis 1978). Incubation lasts 14 to 17 days, but 15 is apparently most common (Davis 1978). Young fledge in 15 to 16 days, and are fed by both parents for about two more weeks.

Davis (1978) found that 58% of nests with at least one egg or nestling (out of 19 observed) succeeded in fledging young. Survival rates, calculated from a total of 94 eggs laid were 60% from laying to hatching, and 94% from hatching to fledging, or 52% overall (from laying to fledging).

The following is a representative barcode sequence, the centroid of all available sequences for this species.

There are 10 barcode sequences available from BOLD and GenBank.  Below is a sequence of the barcode region Cytochrome oxidase subunit 1 (COI or COX1) from a member of the species.  See the BOLD taxonomy browser for more complete information about this specimen and other sequences.

Download FASTA File

Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLDS) Stats
Public Records: 11
Specimens with Barcodes: 27
Species With Barcodes: 1

Brown creepers are not protected as a federally endangered or threatened species in the United States. However, they are protected by state laws in Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana, New Jersey, Ohio, Idaho, Montana, and New York. Brown creepers are also protected under the US Migratory Bird Treaty Act.

There are about 5,400,000 brown creepers in the world. We do not know if this number is increasing or decreasing.

IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: least concern

US Migratory Bird Act: protected

US Federal List: no special status

CITES: no special status

State of Michigan List: no special status

Year Assessed

Assessor/s

Reviewer/s

Contributor/s

Justification

History

• 2008
  Least Concern
• 2004
  Least Concern

Brown creepers are listed as a species of least concern by the IUCN. They are not protected under CITES or the U.S. Endangered Species act. However, they are endangered in Kentucky, threatened in Illinois, of special concern in Indiana, New Jersey, and Ohio, and protected in Idaho, Montana, and New York. Brown creepers are also protected under the US Migratory Bird Treaty Act.

The global population of brown creepers in estimated at 5,400,000 individuals. Population trends and causes of mortality of brown creepers are not well studied.

US Migratory Bird Act: protected

US Federal List: no special status

CITES: no special status

State of Michigan List: no special status

IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: least concern

Canada

Rounded National Status Rank: N5 - Secure

United States

Rounded National Status Rank: N5 - Secure

Rounded Global Status Rank: G5 - Secure

Reasons: Widespread, reasonably common, and demonstrably secure in many areas of North America; likely to be missed in standard surveys, and so may be underestimated in some counts; not particularly threatened globally at present.

Other Considerations: Species takes advantage of major tree die-offs and moves into areas recently flooded by alterations in hydrology, or to disease-killed stands, inflating local populations. Such increases are only temporary, however.

Global Short Term Trend: Relatively stable to decline of 30%

Comments: Assessment of range-wide population trend is difficult because this species is recorded infrequently in standard surveys (e.g., Breeding Bird Survey, BBS); individuals are easily missed, and the species typically occurs at fairly low densities. BBS data for 1966-2004 indicate a basically stable population in North America (nonsignificant increase averaging 0.4 percent per year) and stable or decreasing trend throughout the United States (-0.6 percent per year, P < 0.34, n = 482; Sauer et al. 2005b). BBS data suggest that populations may be quite variable and that more studies on population dynamics are needed before BBS data can be reliably interpreted.

Canada-wide BBS data suggest that populations increased nationwide by approximately 5.2 percent (P<0.03, n=108) between 1966 and 2004 (Sauer et al. 2005b), although observations at several migration monitoring stations in northern Canada showed declines (Bird Studies Canada 2000 in ASRD 2003). Trend information is sparse across North America in general.

Brown creepers take advantage of major tree die-offs, recently flooded areas, and disease-killed stands. Movement into such areas temporarily inflates local populations.

Degree of Threat: Low

Comments: On a range-wide scale, no major threats are known. Locally, this species may be threatened by loss of forested wetlands and floodplain forest (Herkert, pers. comm.), forest fragmentation (Keller and Anderson 1992), and forest management practices that eliminate dead trees. The species is apparently area-sensitive (i.e., requires large blocks of habitat) and is intolerant of heavy logging or thinning. Nest failures have been caused by alteration of the nest site by wind or rain, predation, human disturbance, and in one case, brood parasitism by a cowbird (Davis 1978).

Restoration Potential: A change of forest management practices to favor maintenance of a standing dead wood component and to reduce forest fragmentation would be beneficial, and is feasible.

Preserve Selection and Design Considerations: The appropriate size for a preserve is unknown, but is believed to be large. Peterjohn and Rice (1991) observed that "nesting creepers are occupants of extensive woodlands and will not be found in isolated woodlots and narrow wooded corridors." Negatively impacted by forest fragmentation in southern Wyoming (Keller and Anderson 1992). Measured territories ranged up to about 6.5 ha per pair (Davis 1978). This can be used as a guideline to establish minimum preserve size until more studies have been completed.

Management Requirements: Brown creepers require that the dead tree component in forests be allowed and encouraged. The coniferous, mixed species character of forests should be maintained where populations reside. Best to protect or manage stands to have at least some trees or groves of trees over 100 years old to have dead trees with flaking bark for nest sites (Ewert, unpubl. MS). Response to burning: more common on unburned plots in breeding season in Arizona (Finch et al. 1997).

Management Research Needs: Management research needs include determination of the appropriate size for a preserve, investigation of the effects of forest management practices in different forest types, and knowledge of population dynamics.

Biological Research Needs: The degree to which this species is affected by timber-harvesting practices and forest fragmentation is uncertain; need to determine response to various forest management practices. Research should attempt to determine the size of tract necessary to attract a breeding pair and size of area required to maintain viable subpopulations, metapopulations, etc. The relationship between demographic parameters (nesting success, survivorship, and dispersal) and habitat or management treatments should be determined. Information is needed on breeding biology, taxonomic relationship to Eurasian (C. familiaris) and short-toed treecreepers (C. brachydactyla) and validity of subspecies, geographic variation in vocalizations, and the effectiveness of current methods for sexing and aging (Hejl et al. 2002).

Global Protection: Very many (>40) occurrences appropriately protected and managed

Comments: Many occurrences are protected in parks and wilderness areas.

Needs: Promote policies that protect old growth on public forested lands and maintain standing deadwood over large areas of forested land.

Brown creepers do not hurt humans in any way that we know about.

Brown creepers eat insects that are pests to some humans.

Positive Impacts: controls pest population

There are no known adverse affects of brown creepers on humans.

As insectivores, brown creepers may help to control pest populations.

Positive Impacts: controls pest population

Stewardship Overview: This small bark-gleaning bird primarily inhabits northern coniferous forests, but is opportunistic enough to take advantage of large stands of dying timber of other types on occasion, especially on the southern periphery of its range. It is rarest in the south-central portions of its range, from the western Appalachians to the eastern edge of the Great Plains. In this region, attention to maintenance of a standing deadwood component in forest stands is critical. Elsewhere, though special protection and management may not currently be warranted for this relatively common bird, long term management should provide for standing deadwood. In Oregon, and apparently in Vermont and Connecticut, marked declines have occurred in recent years, presumably in response to logging of old growth stands. In Oregon, probably Washington, and wherever else old growth stands are being logged, compatible management plans are especially important for survival. Preservation of small old growth stands by purchase is not likely to be an adequate protection tool because of its tendency toward low-density populations.