Maps

References

Summary of status, habitat needs, concerns, objectives, and recommended action items, derived from species account authors and 6/23/00 meeting.

. SUBSPECIES STATUS: None presently observed by AOU. Grinnell and Miller (1944) recognized Certhia familiaris zelotes and Certhia familiaris occidentalis in California.

. MANAGEMENT STATUS:No official status

. RANGE MAPS (California):

. Historical distribution maps (subspecies): Grinnell and Miller

. BBS map

. Christmas bird count map

. I.Historical references:

. Grinnell and Miller (1944) distinguished two Brown Creeper subspecies in California.Certhia familiaris zelotes, is a Transition Zone resident, with “partial and irregular emigration in autumn” to lower elevations.It was considered common “under optimum habitat conditions,” but they state that “removal of old forest likely has reduced aggregate population.”Its range covered almost the entire length of the state:east of the coast belt and west of the southeastern deserts.In the north, it extended east to the Warner Mountains, Modoc County; west to include Siskiyou and Salmon mountains, Siskiyou County.It extended south along the inner Coast Ranges, nearly to the Strait of Carquinez.Its range included the entire Sierra Nevada continuously, with patchy distribution south of Tehachapi, on higher mountains as far as Cuyamaca Mountains, San Diego County.Grinnell and Miller (1944) described its habitat as mature forest, particularly conifers (incense cedar, white, red and douglas firs, yellow, jeffrey and lodgepole pines), but also deciduous trees (black oak, aspen, cottonwood, alder; in winter:valley, live and blue oaks).

. The range forCerthia familiaris occidentaliswas described as the coastal strip south of the Oregon line in Del Norte County and as far south as Moneterey County, from sea level up to 3700 feet.It was found in the “densest and oldest forests available,” particularly original stands of coast redwood (Grinnell and Miller 1944).

. II.Current breeding distribution:

. The Brown Creeper is a “fairly common resident within the forests of its breeding range” (Small 1994).It breeds south of the Oregon border through the Klamath Mountains and the Northern Coast Range to San Francisco Bay; from San Francisco Bay south, in the Southern Coast Range to Morro Bay, and in the San Rafael Mountains (Small 1994).It also breeds in the mountains of the northern Modoc Plateau, the Warner Moutnains and the White Mountainns, the Inyo Mountains, the southern Cascades south to northern Kern county and the Mt. Pinos area mountains.In southern California it is found in the San Gabriel, San Bernardino, San Jacinto and Santa Rosa mountains and at upper elevations in San Diego County (Small 1994).

. BBS relative abundance data (1966 to 1996) by region in California:

. AreaRelative abundance

. Sierra Nevada4.3

. South Pacific Rainforests3.9

. Los Angeles Ranges1.2

. Pitt-Klamath Plateau1.1

. California Foothills0.6

. Basin and Range0.06

. ECOLOGY:

. I.Average territory size:In a white cedar bog in Michigan, territory size ranged from 2.3 to 6.4 hectares (Davis 1978).

. II.Time of occurrence and seasonal movements.

. A.Arrival date on breeding grounds:

. The breeding season in California, based on nest records, ranges from April 16 through July 11; Bent (1964) notes that the height of the breeding season as May 19 through June 11 (17 nest records found).

B.Departure from breeding grounds:

. Some Brown Creepers at higher elevations move downslope in the fall, with great variation in numbers migrating from year to year (Small 1994).In some years, during “sporadic fall migrations,” Brown Creepers disperse to “the deserts, the valley floors and the coast” (Small 1994).Fall dispersal may occur as early as late August, with maxium numbers recorded during October (Small 1994).

. C.Spring migration period:Information on spring movement is not available (Small 1994).

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D.Fall migration period.See B.

. E.Extent of wintering in California:from Christmas bird count 1999

. Countynumber reportedNumber/party hour

. Big Sur450.508

. Santa Cruz970.433

. Woodfords90.250

. Ano Nuevo310.248

. Yosemite Natl Pk110.227

. Mineral CA40.211

. Tehachapi80.190

. Oakland530.168

. Crystal Springs270.167

. Sierra Valley50.165

. San Francisco220.146

. Santa Rosa180.143

. Arcata280.138

. Moss Landing350.118

. Grass Valley160.113

. Monterey Peninsula200.109

. Palo Alto250.106

. Clear Lake80.101

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. III.Migration stop-over needs/characteristics:

. A.Stop-over period:No information.

. B.Habitat use:No information.

. C.Routes:No information.

. IV.Nest type:

. Nests are built behind a loose slab of bark still attached to a living or dead tree; the nest is a hammock-like cup with a foundation of twigs, leaves, bark shreds; and lined with finer bark, grasses, feathers, mosses.The female builds the nest (Franzreb 1985).Building may take a month (Franzreb 1985).Brown Creepers may occasionally nest in holes in trees if loose bark is not available (Harrison 1979).

. V.Foraging strategy:

. Brown Creepers use their slightly decurved bill to pick food items from cracks and crevices and off the bark surface (Davis 1978).Typically, Brown Creepers climb upward along the trunk, often spiraling around the trunk, then drop down to the base of another tree when they reach a certain height (Bent 1964).Birds have been observed starting 1 meter off the ground, working their way up the trunk to within 1-3 meters of the tree top, then flying to the trunk of another tree (Franzreb 1985).The point at which birds switched to another tree often coincided with an increase in branch density, probably making it difficult for the bird to maneuver on the trunk (Franzreb 1985).Peck-probe was the most common foraging strategy (92.5% of observations), followed by gleaning (6.9% of observations) and hawking (0.6% of observations) (Franzreb 1985).

. Brown Creepers forage predominantly on the bole (98%) of a tree, spending more time foraging in the lower bole (67%) than the upper bole (19%) (Weikel et al. 1999).Creepers are sometimes observed in the lower crown but not in the upper crown (Weikel et al. 1999).

. VI.Displays:

. In courtship displays a male may “launch out from a tree and at top speed twine around another tree, or weave in and out among the surrounding tree and branches” (Bent 1964).

. Courtship feeding of the female by the male takes place until egg hatching (Davis 1978).

. In Michigan, territorial singing occurred commonly from April until the young fledged (Davis 1978).

. VII.Social Organization:

. A.Typical breeding densities:In western Oregon, Brown Creeper total density during the breeding season increased with douglas-fir stand age:0 per 40 hectares in 10 year-old stands; 3 per 40 hectares in 35 year-old stands; 8 per 40 hectares in 75 year-old stands; 19 per 40 hectares in 110 year-old stands; 46 per 40 hectares in 200 year-old stands (Mannan et al. 1980).In old-growth hemlock-white pine-hardwood forest (Appalachian Plateau, Pennsylvania) there were 1.58 breeding territories per 10 hectares (Haney 1999).

. B.Mating system: Monogamous (Davis 1978)

. C.Delayed breeding: No information.

. D.Post fledging biology of offspring:Fledgling groups initially remain within a 500-meter radius of the former nest (Davis 1978).At seventeen days after fledging, young creepers still occasionally begged and were fed (Davis 1978).Bent (1964) reports that young of the year may be attended by adults up to the first week in September.However, Davis did not find any family groups after mid-July (1978).

. E..Post breeding social behavior:In winter Brown Creepers are found with flocks of feeding bush-tits, kinglets, chickadees and nuthatches (Bent 1964).

. VIII.Clutch size:From 4 to 8 eggs to a clutch, most commonly 5 or 6 (Bent 1964)

. IX.Incubating sex: Both sexes.

. X.Incubation period:15 days (Davis 1978). Incubation begins after the clutch is complete (Davis 1978).

. XI.Nestling period: Bent (1964) reports that young leave the nest within 13 - 14 days of hatching.Davis (1978) reports that they leave the nest 15-16 days after hatching.

. XII.Development at hatching: Altricial (Davis 1978).

. XIII.Number of broods: