BROWN CREEPER 



By T. GILBERT PEARSON 



Ctie Rational Skmotiation o( Hubution ^octetit< 



EDUCATIONAL LEAFLET NO. 104 



Few birds are more modest and retiring in their habits than the Brown 

 Creeper. Its life is passed creeping about the trunks of trees, and when alarmed 

 by the approach of an intruder will often remain stationary and thus avoid 

 detection. Its notes are few and the song of the male so low that it is rarely 

 heard. The bird is altogether so difficult to see and to hear, and blends so 

 perfectly with its wild surroundings, that even a trained observer will often 

 pass near one without learning of its presence. 



The Brown Creeper is from 5 to 5^ inches long. Nearly one-half of this 

 length is taken up by the long tail which is stiff and bristly at the end, not unlike 

 the tail of a Woodpecker. The bill is about ^ inch in length, slender, rounded, 

 and slightly curved. It serves the bird well, for it is of the greatest use in explor- 

 ing the small, deep crevices of the bark in quest of food. In color the Creeper 

 is brown above and streaked lengthwise with white. Two wide whitish bars 

 cross each wing. The rump is light rusty red. Beneath, from bill to tail, the 

 bird is white. The brown-streaked back of a Creeper, clinging motionless to the 

 bark of a forest tree, presents a mark not easily seen by one who is unaware that 

 a bird is hiding there in open view. 



In the greater part of its range in the United States, people see this little 

 tree, mouse-like, bird only during the colder portions of the year, for its summer 

 home is farther north. It is often found in companies of three or four — family 

 groups, possibly — and very frequently associated with a band of Chickadees, 

 Nuthatches, and Downy Woodpeckers. 



In feeding, the Brown Creeper climbs along the bark of trees by means of 

 little jumps or hitches. Generally it begins about 2 feet from the ground, and, as 

 it moves upward, it examines critically the cracks and crevices of the rough bark. 

 Usually it also moves slightly sidewise, so that by the time it is among the limbs, 

 often 20 feet or more from the ground, it has circled the tree two or three times. 

 Rarely it will creep along some large limb, but more generally, when reaching 

 the region of the tree trunk from which the limbs grow, it will fly to another 

 tree close by. Alighting near the base, it again begins its upward climb. 



While the bird is well known to be an eater of insects and their eggs and 

 larvae, but little has been learned regarding just what insect food it most pre- 

 fers. It is known, however, to eat ants, sawflies, spiders, and, to some extent, 

 the seeds of the scrub pine. 



Its usual cry is a fine chip or screep, the sound of which has often been likened 

 to the call-notes of the Golden-crowned Kinglet. Its song has been heard in 

 the spring and summer by some naturalists who have penetrated the forests 



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