Treecreeper (Certhia familiaris)
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© Copyright by Alberto Masi - www.scricciolo.com
Status:
Resident all year round
Scots Names: Tree Speiler
Size: 12.5cm (5")
Habitat: Parks, gardens, all types of woodland, churchyards
and hedgerows.
Breeding: 200 000 breeding pairs, up to 9 eggs, up to
15 days fledging
Food: Insects and spiders, some seeds in winter. A harsh
winter can see them visit peanut feeders
Call Note: A soft "Seep". Very sweet
and soft song with end flourish
Status: GREEN
A walk through
mixed woodland may give a sighting of one of our most attractive and delicate
woodland birds, the treecreeper.
It has many local names including brown woodpecker, creepy tree, bark runner,
tree clipper and tree speiler, speiler being a scots
word for climber. Its feet are adapted perfectly to climbing trees, moving
upwards in a spiral around the trunk, whilst searching
for small insects and their eggs in the cracks and crevices of the bark with
its long, curved bill.
A fleeting
glimpse would suggest a small bird with brown and cream plumage. However,
when viewed at close quarters it has a
beautiful and mottled array of markings from deep brown and buff to cream
and rusty orange. It has a particular liking for the
large wellingtonia or 'punch tree', where its long bill can probe into the
soft bark, either in search of food or to excavate a potential
nest site.
Look around
the trunk for signs of treecreeper activity in the form of regular holes neatly
dug out in the bark. Like some other
woodland birds, its only real threat is a severe winter and though primarily
insect eaters, colder weather may see them adapting
to other food sources.