Brown Creeper
Certhia americana

The Brown Creepers have an appearance very reminiscent of a wren, but their behaviour is more like a nuthatch. These birds range across most of temperate North America in mature, coniferous forests. We usually observe nuthatches climbing down tree trunks. Because Brown Creepers need to use their tail as a brace, they are not suited for downward movement, and always climb up the trees. They are adorned with cryptic patterning on their backs. This provides them with a marvelous ability to virtually disappear against tree-bark.
There are 13 recognized subspecies of Brown Creepers. Most of the birds I have met I believe to be C. a. occidentalis, but the birds I met at Madera Canyon in Arizona appear to be a different subspecies, probably C. a. montana.
The full list of subspecies follows:
- C. a. americana breeds from Saskatchewan east to Newfoundland and south to Minnesota east to West Virginia.
- C. a. nigrescens lives in Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee and North Carolina.
- C. a. montana lives in Rockies from British Columbia and Alberta east to South Dakota and south Arizona and Texas.
- C. a. alascensis breeds in southern Alaska, and spends winter in Idaho and south to Arizona and New Mexico.
- C. a. occidentalis lives west of the Coast Ranges and Cascades, from Alaska south to northern California.
- C. a. stewarti lives on Queen Charlotte Island in British Columbia (Canada).
- C. a. phillipsi lives in Coast Ranges of central California from San Francisco, south to San Luis Obispo County.
- C. a. zelotes lives east of the Cascades from Oregon south through the Sierra Nevada, Inyo Mountains, southern California and in the inner Coast Ranges of northern California.
- C. a. leucosticta lives in southern Nevada and western-central Utah.
- C. a. albescens lives in Arizona and New Mexico south through western mountains of Mexico to the states in southern Mexico.
- C. a. alticola lives in the volcanic ranges of southern Mexico.
- C. a. pernigra lives in the highlands of southern Mexico and northern Central America.
- C. a. extima lives in Central America.
Aside from the birds I met in Madera Canyon (Arizona) and coastal Oregon, all the Brown Creepers I have met have been in southern California.
22 Photos

Brown Creeper(Certhia americana) |
Description: The Springs at Santa Rosa Mountain. Riverside County, California. |
Date Taken: 2015:08:12 18:43 |
Location:
Santa Rosa Mountain |
Camera Information: NIKON D3X, 800 mm, f/7.1, 1/60 |
File Name: D3X3542-BrownCreeper |
© 2015 Jack Daynes, shadeTree-Imaging.com |


Brown Creeper(Certhia americana) |
Description: The Springs at Santa Rosa Mountain. Riverside County, California. |
Date Taken: 2015:08:13 11:07 |
Location:
Santa Rosa Mountain |
Camera Information: NIKON D3X, 800 mm, f/7.1, 1/400 |
File Name: D3X4165-BrownCreeper |
© 2015 Jack Daynes, shadeTree-Imaging.com |


Brown Creeper(Certhia americana) |
Description: The Springs at Santa Rosa Mountain. Riverside County, California. |
Date Taken: 2015:08:13 12:48 |
Location:
Santa Rosa Mountain |
Camera Information: NIKON D3X, 800 mm, f/7.1, 1/60 |
File Name: D3X4461-BrownCreeper |
© 2015 Jack Daynes, shadeTree-Imaging.com |


Brown Creeper(Certhia americana) |
Description: The Springs at Santa Rosa Mountain. Riverside County, California. |
Date Taken: 2015:08:13 12:49 |
Location:
Santa Rosa Mountain |
Camera Information: NIKON D3X, 800 mm, f/7.1, 1/50 |
File Name: D3X4489-BrownCreeper |
© 2015 Jack Daynes, shadeTree-Imaging.com |


Brown Creeper(Certhia americana) |
Description: At the 'Springs' on Santa Rosa Mountain. Elevation 7400' on southern Riverside County, California. |
Date Taken: 2014:08:30 11:03 |
Location:
Santa Rosa Mountain |
Camera Information: NIKON D3X, 800 mm, f/6.3, 1/200 |
File Name: D3X8914-BrownCreeper |
© 2014 Jack Daynes, shadeTree-Imaging.com |


Brown Creeper(Certhia americana) |
Description: The Springs at Santa Rosa Mountain. Riverside County, California. |
Date Taken: 2012:09:12 16:41 |
Location:
Santa Rosa Mountain |
Camera Information: NIKON D3X, 800 mm, f/5.6, 1/125 |
File Name: D3X9039-BrownCreeper |
© 2012 Jack Daynes, shadeTree Imaging |


Brown Creeper(Certhia americana) |
Description: At the 'Springs' on Santa Rosa Mountain. Elevation 7400' on southern Riverside County, California. |
Date Taken: 2014:08:30 13:53 |
Location:
Santa Rosa Mountain |
Camera Information: NIKON D3X, 800 mm, f/6.3, 1/50 |
File Name: D3X9213-BrownCreeper |
© 2014 Jack Daynes, shadeTree-Imaging.com |


Brown Creeper(Certhia americana) |
Description: Madera Canyon in the Santa Rita Mountains, south of Tucson Arizona. |
Date Taken: 2015:10:27 9:59 |
Location:
Madera Canyon |
Camera Information: NIKON D7200, 400 mm, f/8.0, 1/320 |
File Name: D722507-BrownCreeper |
© 2015 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |


Brown Creeper(Certhia americana) |
Description: Madera Canyon in the Santa Rita Mountains, south of Tucson Arizona. |
Date Taken: 2015:10:27 9:59 |
Location:
Madera Canyon |
Camera Information: NIKON D7200, 400 mm, f/8.0, 1/200 |
File Name: D722509-BrownCreeper |
© 2015 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |


Brown Creeper(Certhia americana) |
Description: Santa Rosa Mountain, Southern Riverside County, California. |
Date Taken: 2010:08:12 18:49 |
Location:
Santa Rosa Mountain |
Camera Information: NIKON D3X, 800 mm, f/6.3, 1/40 |
File Name: JCD5523.BrownCreeper |
© 2010 - Jack Daynes - shadeTree Imaging |


Brown Creeper(Certhia americana) |
Description: Santa Rosa Mountain, Southern Riverside County, California. |
Date Taken: 2004:07:26 9:23 |
Location:
Santa Rosa Mountain |
Camera Information: NIKON D1X, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/60 |
File Name: JCD_7361BrownCreeper |
© 2004 Jack Daynes, shadeTree Imaging |


Brown Creeper(Certhia americana) |
Description: Santa Rosa Mountain, Southern Riverside County, California. |
Date Taken: 2004:07:26 9:26 |
Location:
Santa Rosa Mountain |
Camera Information: NIKON D1X, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/60 |
File Name: JCD_7370BrownCreeper |
© 2004 Jack Daynes, shadeTree Imaging |


Brown Creeper(Certhia americana) |
Description: Santa Rosa Mountain, Southern Riverside County, California. |
Date Taken: 2004:08:26 8:45 |
Location:
Santa Rosa Mountain |
Camera Information: NIKON D1X, 800 mm, f/6.3, 1/250 |
File Name: JCD_9223BrownCreeper |
© 2004 Jack Daynes, shadeTree Imaging |


Brown Creeper(Certhia americana) |
Description: The springs on Santa Rosa Mountain, at 7500 feet elevation in southern Riverside County, California. |
Date Taken: 2016:08:30 17:12 |
Location:
Santa Rosa Mountain |
Camera Information: NIKON D7200, 550 mm, f/8.0, 1/1000 |
File Name: D723800-BrownCreeper |
© 2016 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |


Brown Creeper(Certhia americana) |
Description: At the 'Springs' on Santa Rosa Mountain. Elevation 7400' on southern Riverside County, California. |
Date Taken: 2014:08:29 17:39 |
Location:
Santa Rosa Mountain |
Camera Information: NIKON D3X, 800 mm, f/6.3, 1/80 |
File Name: D3X7935-BrownCreeper |
© 2014 Jack Daynes, shadeTree-Imaging.com |


Brown Creeper(Certhia americana) |
Description: The Springs at Santa Rosa Mountain. Riverside County, California. |
Date Taken: 2016:06:10 17:18 |
Location:
Santa Rosa Mountain |
Camera Information: NIKON D7200, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/640 |
File Name: D722090-BrownCreeper |
© 2016 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |


Brown Creeper(Certhia americana) |
Description: I received an email from an Oregon birder, suggesting I stop north of Pacific City at Clay Myers State Natural Area at Whalen Island, and what a great suggestion it turned out to be! I met the first Brown Creepers of this trip there. |
Date Taken: 2022:04:05 9:54 |
Location:
Clay Myers State Natural Area |
Camera Information: NIKON D850, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/800 |
File Name: BrownCreeper_8501396-ClayMyers-NaturalArea |
© 2022 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |


Brown Creeper(Certhia americana) |
Description: I received an email from an Oregon birder, suggesting I stop north of Pacific City at Clay Myers State Natural Area at Whalen Island, and what a great suggestion it turned out to be! I met the first Brown Creepers of this trip there. |
Date Taken: 2022:04:05 9:54 |
Location:
Clay Myers State Natural Area |
Camera Information: NIKON D850, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/800 |
File Name: BrownCreeper_8501414-ClayMyers-NaturalArea |
© 2022 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |


Brown Creeper(Certhia americana) |
Description: I received an email from an Oregon birder, suggesting I stop north of Pacific City at Clay Myers State Natural Area at Whalen Island, and what a great suggestion it turned out to be! I met the first Brown Creepers of this trip there. |
Date Taken: 2022:04:05 9:54 |
Location:
Clay Myers State Natural Area |
Camera Information: NIKON D850, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/800 |
File Name: BrownCreeper_8501429-ClayMyers-NaturalArea |
© 2022 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |


Brown Creeper(Certhia americana) |
Description: I received an email from an Oregon birder, suggesting I stop north of Pacific City at Clay Myers State Natural Area at Whalen Island, and what a great suggestion it turned out to be! I met the first Brown Creepers of this trip there. |
Date Taken: 2022:04:05 9:56 |
Location:
Clay Myers State Natural Area |
Camera Information: NIKON D850, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/800 |
File Name: BrownCreeper_8501455-ClayMyers-NaturalArea |
© 2022 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |


Brown Creeper(Certhia americana) |
Description: During my stay near Lake Huron’s Georgian Bay, most locals I met spoke fondly of a location called Tiny Marsh. On March 24th, I spent most of the day there and learned for myself why it is loved by so many folks. |
Date Taken: 2023:05:24 11:00 |
Location:
Tiny Marsh |
Camera Information: NIKON Z 9, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/800 |
File Name: BrownCreeper_Z9X0789_TinyMarsh-Ont-CA |
© 2023 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |


Brown Creeper(Certhia americana) |
Description: During my stay near Lake Huron’s Georgian Bay, most locals I met spoke fondly of a location called Tiny Marsh. On March 24th, I spent most of the day there and learned for myself why it is loved by so many folks. |
Date Taken: 2023:05:24 10:59 |
Location:
Tiny Marsh |
Camera Information: NIKON Z 9, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/800 |
File Name: BrownCreeper_Z9X0767_TinyMarsh-Ont-CA |
© 2023 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |

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