Brown Creeper Identification

The Four Keys to ID

• Size & Shape

  Brown Creepers are tiny yet lanky songbirds. They have long, spine-tipped tails, slim bodies, and slender, decurved bills.

  Relative Size

  Smaller than a White-breasted Nuthatch; larger than a Golden-crowned Kinglet.

  sparrow-sized or smaller

  Measurements

  • Both Sexes
  • • Length: 4.7-5.5 in (12-14 cm)
    • Weight: 0.2-0.3 oz (5-10 g)
    • Wingspan: 6.7-7.9 in (17-20 cm)

  © Scott Martin / Macaulay Library

• Color Pattern

  Streaked brown and buff above, with their white underparts usually hidden against a tree trunk, Brown Creepers blend easily into bark. Their brownish heads show a broad, buffy stripe over the eye (supercilium).

• Behavior

  Brown Creepers search for small insects and spiders by hitching upward in a spiral around tree trunks and limbs. They move with short, jerky motions using their stiff tails for support. To move to a new tree, they fly weakly to its base and resume climbing up. Brown Creepers sing a high, warbling song; they also give a high, wavering call note that sounds similar to that of a Golden-crowned Kinglet.
• Habitat

  Brown Creepers breed primarily in mature evergreen or mixed evergreen-deciduous forests. You can find them at many elevations, even as high as 11,000 feet at treeline in the West. In the winter season, the species moves into a broader variety of forests and becomes much easier to find in deciduous woodlands.

Regional Differences

Brown Creepers vary somewhat in color and voice across their range. The most noticeable is the “Mexican” Brown Creeper, which ranges into southeastern Arizona and New Mexico. It tends to be darker on the back than creepers in other parts of North America.

Regional Photos

© Scott Martin / Macaulay LibraryMassachusetts, January 06, 2017

© Aaron Beerman / Macaulay LibraryArizona, January 08, 2017