Treecreeper

Certhia familiaris (Linnaeus, 1758) TC TREEC 14860
Family: Passeriformes > Certhiidae

Treecreeper, Liz Cutting

Creeping up the bark of a tree in search of food, the Treecreeper’s cryptic brown, white and yellow-gold plumage gives it the perfect camouflage.

Treecreepers need mature trees in which to search the bark's nooks, crannies and fissures for invertebrate food. They begin searching for food low down on a tree, working their way up before fluttering back down to the lower part of a nearby tree and completing the exercise over again.

Treecreepers are resident in Britain & Ireland and as a small bird, can suffer during harsh winters, resulting in population fluctuations. They are found throughout Britain & Ireland, except for the highest peaks and some of the more remote Scottish islands.

Exploring the trends for Treecreeper

Our Trends Explorer will also give you the latest insight into how the UK's Treecreeper population is changing.

trends explorer

Identification

Treecreeper identification is usually straightforward.

SONGS AND CALLS

Listen to example recordings of the main vocalisations of Treecreeper, provided by xeno-canto contributors.

Call

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Status and Trends

Population size and trends and patterns of distribution based on BTO surveys and atlases with data collected by BTO volunteers.

CONSERVATION STATUS

This species can be found on the following statutory and conservation listings and schedules.

POPULATION SIZE

POPULATION CHANGE

The UK Treecreeper population peaked in the mid 1970s, but has been roughly stable since about 1980. Numbers across Europe have been broadly stable since 1980 (PECBMS: PECBMS 2020a>).

Exploring the trends for Treecreeper

Our Trends Explorer will also give you the latest insight into how the UK's Treecreeper population is changing.

trends explorer

DISTRIBUTION

During 2007–11

Occupied 10-km squares in UK

European Distribution Map

European Breeding Bird Atlas 2

Breeding Season Habitats

Relative frequency by habitat

Relative occurrence in different habitat types during the breeding season.

>Bar of similar size indicate the species is equally likely to be recorded in those habitats

DISTRIBUTION CHANGE

Treecreeper overall range size has reduced by only 5% but this conceals noticeable losses in southwest England, eastern England and southwest Ireland which are partially offset by gains in Scotland and northwest Ireland. The latter may result from the creation and maturation of new woodland.

Change in occupied 10-km squares in the UK

SEASONALITY

Treecreeper is recorded throughout the year.

Weekly occurence of Treecreeper from BirdTrack
Weekly occurrence patterns (shaded cells) and reporting rates (vertical bars) based on BirdTrack data. Reporting rates give the likelihood of encountering the species each week.

Movement

Information about movement and migration based on online bird portals (e.g. BirdTrack), Ringing schemes and tracking studies.

RINGING RECOVERIES

View a summary of recoveries in the Online Ringing Report.

Biology

Lifecycle and body size information about Treecreeper, including statistics on nesting, eggs and lifespan based on BTO ringing and nest recording data.

PRODUCTIVITY & NESTING

Exploring the trends for Treecreeper

Our Trends Explorer will also give you the latest insight into how the UK's Treecreeper population is changing.

trends explorer

SURVIVAL & LONGEVITY

View number ringed each year in the Online Ringing Report

Exploring the trends for Treecreeper

Our Trends Explorer will also give you the latest insight into how the UK's Treecreeper population is changing.

trends explorer

BIOMETRICS

Feather measurements and photos on featherbase

CODES & CLASSIFICATION

For information in another language (where available) click on a linked name

Gaelic: Snàgair
Welsh: Dringwr Bach
Catalan: raspinell pirinenc
Czech: šoupálek dlouhoprstý
Danish: Træløber
Dutch: Taigaboomkruiper
Estonian: porr
Finnish: puukiipijä
French: Grimpereau des bois
German: Waldbaumläufer
Hungarian: hegyi fakusz
Icelandic: Skógfeti
Irish: Snag
Italian: Rampichino alpestre
Latvian: mizložna
Lithuanian: eurazinis liputis
Norwegian: Trekryper
Polish: pelzacz lesny
Portuguese: trepadeira-do-norte
Slovak: kôrovník dlhoprstý
Slovenian: dolgoprsti plezalcek
Spanish: Agateador euroasiático
Swedish: trädkrypare

Research

Interpretation and scientific publications about Treecreeper from BTO scientists.

CAUSES AND SOLUTIONS

Causes of change

The causes of change are unclear although changes to winter weather may have affected survival rates.

Further information on causes of change

Intensive study has shown that Treecreeper numbers and survival rates are reduced by wet winter weather (Peach et al. 1995b). The influence of cold weather is also evident in the low start to the index, following the severe winter of 1962/63, and the trough around 1980. Productivity, calculated using CES data, shows fluctuations since the 1980s. Nest failure rates at the egg stage fell in the 1970s and 1980s but has subsequently increased, and the number of fledglings per breeding attempt shows the opposite pattern and is now slightly lower than in the late 1960s. The trend towards earlier laying can be partly explained by recent climate change (Crick & Sparks 1999).

Information about conservation actions

The population of this species has increased consistently since the 1970s and it has expanded its range northwards, hence it is not a species of concern and no conservation actions are currently required.

Conservation actions benefiting other woodland species may also help Nuthatch. Habitat fragmentation may prevent Nuthatches from finding new sites (Verboom et al. 1991; Bellamy et al. 1998; van Langevelde 2008), and the provision of more frequent suitable patches of woodland across the landscape may therefore enable further colonisation and range expansion. Fragmentation may explain why numbers are relatively low and there are gaps in distribution in eastern England (Bellamy et al. 1998).

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