Brown Creeper

Certhia americana

Brown Creepers are small and inconspicuous birds that peck insects from bark as they spiral up the tree trunk and forage from tree to tree. They typically build nests under the sloughing bark of large trees in bottomland forests (Ehrlich et al. 1988).

Code Frequency

Although primarily a migrant and winter resident in Missouri, summering birds have been recorded. At the turn of the century they were deemed regular inhabitants of the Mississippi Lowlands where they nested under the loose bark of bald cypress trees (Widmann 1907). Since then, virtually the entire swampland habitat of that region has been eliminated. From 1907 until the Atlas Project, only two records of breeding were documented, near St. Louis in 1909 and at Big Oak Tree State Park in 1985 (Robbins and Easterla 1992).

Distribution

Atlasers reported only two records of Brown Creepers during the Atlas Project, both indicating possible breeding. One individual was seen near the Meramec River in the Missouri Botanical Garden Arboretum on June 6, 1987. The other was near Freeburg in Osage County on June 22, 1992. Both individuals were observed feeding on loose bark in wooded areas.

Abundance

Based on the historical records described by Robbins and Easterla (1992) and the locations of Atlas Project records, Brown Creepers could breed anywhere in the state where large, mature or over-mature trees occur in bottomland forests. Because few surveys are conducted in bottomland forests, breeding Brown Creepers may be more numerous than suggested by either the Atlas Project or historical records.

Breeding Evidence

Reported in 2 (<1%) of 1,207 blocks

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