Short-toed Treecreeper Identification
What I look like
The Short-toed Treecreeper has a long, thin, curved beak.
It has white eyebrows.
Its plumage is the color of bark.
The upper part of its body is brown mottled with light.
The underside is whitish.
It has a long supporting tail...
and short front claws with long rear claws for better gripping.
My songs, my calls
The song of the Short-toed Treecreeper is a short and rapid rhythm of piercing and powerful sounds.
Its call is powerful: "tit" or "tit tit tit" or "sriii".
The Short-toed Treecreeper can be distinguished from the Eurasian Treecreeper by its different song.
Here is the song of the Short-toed Treecreeper...
and here is the song of the Eurasian Treecreeper with longer phrases and descending series of high-pitched tones.
How I behave
The Short-toed Treecreeper climbs tree trunks in search of food.
It moves in a spiral, making small jumps to the top, then flies to the base of another tree and starts again.
It is not very sociable, but in winter, they can be seen gathering in roosts to keep warm!
How I reproduce
The breeding season of the Short-toed Treecreeper extends from March to July.
It produces 1 to 2 broods per year of 5 to 6 white eggs speckled with brown.
It nests in crevices of trees and nest boxes.
Its nest is lined with twigs, spider webs, bark, and needles.
What I eat
The Short-toed Treecreeper hunts insects and spiders in the crevices of trees.
It can store its food under the bark to survive the winter.
Where to find me
The Short-toed Treecreeper lives in sparse deciduous or mixed forests, and in parks and gardens.
In Europe, there is also the Eurasian Treecreeper, which looks similar but lives mainly in dense coniferous forests.
It is a sedentary species.