63. Treecreeper

Been a while! As England is now in lockdown (again) I thought it would be a good idea to continue with my blog. I will try and write every day again. Got the advantage of no work to do (my contract for my Ecologist job ran out 3 – 4 weeks ago), so got some free time. So instead of going stir-crazy I’m doing things I’ve been meaning to do, or doing things to keep my mind from imploding. I don’t think I’ve written about this species before so this is a good jump-off point, and it has a great name!

What: Treecreeper Certhia familiaris Linnaeus, 1738

When: 8th November 2020

Where: My garden, Poynton, Cheshire, UK

Who saw it? Me

What is it? A small bird that creeps up trees.

Actually, the name is one of the most descriptive of all British bird names as it sums up the behaviour nicely, they climb slowly up tree trunks looking for food, invertebrates mostly, get to the top and fly to the base of the next tree and begin again. They always go up and never down. They are a small bird, about the size of a blue tit (or chickadee if you’re American) with mousy brown feathers on top and white feathers below. Not only do they have mousy feathers but they almost look like mice full stop, admittedly without a tail and with wings. They have a hunched posture and a comparatively long curved beak, bringing to mind the long snout of said mouse. At this time of year you may find them amongst flocks of other small birds such as Blue Tits, Great Tits, Coal Tits, and Nuthatches (commonly known as ‘mixed tit flocks’).

A fact I have found out about this species: The scientific name directly translates as ‘familiar small tree-dwelling bird.’ A very boring name if you ask me!

Is it charismatic in my opinion? Enigmatic certainly. You very rarely see them but they are apparently common. They blend in with tree trunks almost perfectly and have a habit of climbing tree trunks on the opposite side of where you are observing from; it’s as if they know they’re being watched and are deliberately being awkward by hiding away, you can walk round the tree trunk to see where they have gone only to find it has gone to your original side.