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Short-toed Treecreeper (Certhia brachydactyla) German name(s): "Gartenbaumläufer" Size: 12-13.5 cm; wing span: 17-20.5 cm Body mass: 7.5-11 g Wing loading [g/cm2]: 0.10-0.13

Europe: Family Group 15 Family Group 15 Table Hoopoe Eurasian Wryneck Eurasian Treecreeper Short-toed Treecreeper Wallcreeper Black Woodpecker European Green Woodpecker Grey-headed Woodpecker Great Spotted Woodpecker Syrian Woodpecker Middle Spotted Woodpecker Lesser Spotted Woodpecker Thumbnails page Family group table Index of bird names European birds home page

Similar species

Description     Classification     Distribution     Sightings     Photos     Breeding     Nest     Eggs     Behaviour     Food     Call/s

Physical description Click here for a physical description Short-toed Treecreepers are small woodland birds. Their plumage is highly cryptic and the two sexes look alike. Their upperparts are grey to greyish-brown, with copious streaks and scalloping in a cryptic pattern. They have white supercilia, dark-grey eye-stripes and a mostly white front, except for a slight brown tinge on belly, vent and undertail coverts. The folded upperwings are camouflaged by an intricate pattern of black and grey-brown bars with white specks. They have a regular "step pattern" in their grey-brown wing bar. Their tail, which is grey-brown with a somewhat darker tip, is made of spiny feathers that help support the bird's weight while clinging to a tree trunk. The irises are dark-brown. The fine, down-curved bill has a grey upper mandible and an horn-coloured lower mandible. The legs and feet are grey.

Taxonomy, classification See Short-toed Treecreeper at Wikipedia .

Range, habitat, finding this species Click here for information on habitat and range The overall distribution of this species can be assessed, and specific locations where birds have been spotted can be found, based on individual sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to ebird.org . The global distribution of the Short-toed Treecreeper is available HERE . There are 5 extant races of Short-toed Treecreepers (for details see a field guide or, e.g. Wikipedia ), They are sedentary throughout their range, which extends from north-western near-coastal Africa via south-western, central and southern Europe into south-eastern Europe and parts of Asia Minor. In Europe there are two races of Short-toed Treecreepers. Nominate race "brachydactyla" is present eastward of the Rhine, in parts of central, eastern and south-eastern Europe, plus Sicily and Crete. Race "megarhyncha" populates south-western Europe and western Europe to about the river Rhine. There are no Short-toed Treecreepers on the British Isles, other than the Channel Islands, in Scandinavia or eastward of a line connecting roughly the eastern Polish border with the Danube delta. Short-toed Treecreepers are also absent from the highest regions of the Alps and from the karst along the eastern Adriatic coastline. Short-toed Treecreepers have a preference for forest and woodland, usually at lower altitudes than the Eurasian Treecreeper, and more likely in deciduous forest, rather than conifers. They can also occur in gardens and parks in towns.

Sightings Click here for sighting information Race "brachydactyla" A. Sarok found a Short-toed Treecreeper, nominate race brachydactyla", in Vojvodina, Serbia, in the timeframe 2010-2024. Race "megarhyncha" J. Pires reports spotting Short-toed Treecreepers, race "megarhyncha", semi-regularly in the area from Mora, Evora, Portugal, to Montargil, Alentejo, Portugal. Another bird was found at Barragem da Vilarica, Alfandega da Fe, Tras os Montes, Portugal, in November 2019. M. Thomas found a Short-toed Treecreeper, race "megarhyncha", in the Taunus, Hessen, Germany, in May 2020. G. Normand spotted a Short-toed Treecreeper, race "megarhyncha", at Saint Quentin en Yvelines, Ile-de-France, France, in January 2021.

Photos

Race "brachydactyla"

ADULT

Sex unknown

Lateral view of a Short-toed Treecreeper with its prey, a small flying insect (photo courtesy of A. Sarok)
[Vojvodina, Serbia, date unknown]

Race "megarhyncha"

ADULT

Sex unknown

Lateral view of a Short-toed Treecreeper hanging off the bark of a tree (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, July 2014]

Lateral view of a Short-toed Treecreeper hanging off the bark of a tree (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, December 2015]

Lateral view of a Short-toed Treecreeper (photo courtesy of G. Normand)
[Saint Quentin en Yvelines, Ile-de-France, France, January 2021]

Lateral view of a Short-toed Treecreeper (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, December 2015]

Lateral view of a Short-toed Treecreeper hanging off the bark of a tree and fluttering its wings (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, May 2014]

Near-dorsal view of a Short-toed Treecreeper foraging in the bark of a tree covered with lichen and mushrooms (photo courtesy of M. Thomas)
[Taunus, Hessen, Germany, May 2020]

Near-dorsal view of a Short-toed Treecreeper (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, February 2014]

View onto the upperparts of a Short-toed Treecreeper (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Barragem da Vilarica, Alfandega da Fe, Tras os Montes, Portugal,

View onto the upperparts of a Short-toed Treecreeper (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Barragem da Vilarica, Alfandega da Fe, Tras os Montes, Portugal, November 2019]

View onto the upperparts of a Short-toed Treecreeper (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, February 2014]

Direct comparison between the two species of European treecreeper: Short-toed Treecreeper, left, and Eurasian Treecreeper, right; note the "even step pattern" on the left and the gap in the "step pattern" on the right
(photos courtesy of J. Pires, left, and D. Wilczynska, right)

Behaviour

Social behaviour: Territorial

Mobility: Sedentary

Elementary unit: Solitary

Short-toed Treecreeper working its way up a lichen-covered tree trunk, head up (photo courtesy of M. Thomas)
[Taunus, Hessen, Germany, May 2020]

Food, Diet

Lateral view of a Short-toed Treecreeper hanging head-down off the bark of a tree, with its prey (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, May 2014]

Lateral view of a Short-toed Treecreeper with its prey (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, December 2015]

Dorsal view of a Short-toed Treecreeper with its prey (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Castelhana, Mora, Evora, Portugal, May 2023]

Call(s)/Song

For this species we have recorded the following call(s)/song. The interpretation of their meaning is our own; comments and suggestions for improvement are welcome.

strecrp_jp_20221230.m4a	megarhyncha (Portugal)	Contact calls?	© JP
strecrp_jp_20200218.m4a	megarhyncha (Portugal)	Contact calls? (+ Common Chaffinch)	© JP
strecrp_jp_20200318.m4a	megarhyncha (Portugal)	Territorial call?	© JP
strecrp_jp_20190704.m4a	megarhyncha (Portugal)	Territorial call?	© JP
strecrp_jp_20250222.m4a	megarhyncha (Portugal)	Territorial calls?	© JP

More Short-toed Treecreeper sound recordings are available at xeno-canto.org .

These pages are largely based on our own observations and those of our contributors. The structure of these bird pages is explained HERE. For more salient facts on any bird species please refer to a field guide.

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