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Treecreeper

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Birds

               iTreecreepers
         Scientific classification

   Kingdom: Animalia
   Phylum:  Chordata
   Class:   Aves
   Order:   Passeriformes
   Family:  Certhidae
   Genus:   Certhia and Salpornis

                                   Species

   Certhia familiaris
   C. hodgsoni
   C. americana
   C. brachydactyla
   C. himalayana
   C. tianquanensis
   C. nipalensis
   C. discolor
   C. manipuensis
   Salpornis spilonotus

   The treecreepers (Certhiidae) are a family of small passerine birds,
   consisting of two subfamilies:
     * The typical treecreepers (Certhiinae) are a group of seven species
       found in Europe and Asia, with one representative, the Brown
       Creeper, in North America.
     * The Spotted Creeper Salpornis spilonotus (Salpornithinae), which is
       found in India and Africa.

Typical treecreepers

   The typical treecreepers are all very similar in appearance, and can
   present serious identification problems where two species occur
   together. They do not migrate other than for local movements.

   The treecreepers are small woodland birds, brown above and white below.
   They have thin pointed down-curved bills, which they use to extricate
   insects from bark. They have stiff tail feathers, like woodpeckers,
   which they use to support themselves on vertical trees.

   Nests are in tree crevices or behind bark.

   Following recent studies of cytochrome b mtDNA sequence and song
   structure (Tietze et al., 2006), the following species are recognized:
     * Common Treecreeper or Eurasian Treecreeper, Certhia familiaris
     * Hodgson's Treecreeper, Certhia hodgsoni
     * Brown Creeper, Certhia americana
     * Short-toed Treecreeper, Certhia brachydactyla

     * Himalayan Treecreeper or Bar-tailed Treecreeper, Certhia himalayana
     * Sichuan Treecreeper, Certhia tianquanensis
     * Nepal Treecreeper or Rusty-flanked Treecreeper, Certhia nipalensis
     * Sikkim Treecreeper or Brown-throated Treecreeper, Certhia discolor
     * Manipur Treecreeper, Certhia manipurensis

   They form two evolutionary lineages: the former four species represent
   a Holarctic radiation, whereas the remaining five are distributed in
   the area south and east of the Himalaya. 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. The former group has a more warbling song, always (except in
   C. familiaris from China) starting or ending with a shrill sreeh. The
   Himalayan group, in contrast, has a faster-paced trill without the
   sreeh sound.

Spotted Creeper

   For information on this species, see Spotted Creeper.

Other birds with creeper or treecreeper in their name

   There are two other small bird families with treecreeper or creeper in
   their name:
     * the Australian treecreepers (Climacteridae)
     * the Philippine creepers (Rhabdornithidae)

   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treecreeper"
   This reference article is mainly selected from the English Wikipedia
   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
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