Editing Short-toed treecreeper (section)

==Taxonomy==
The short-toed treecreeper was first described by [[Christian Ludwig Brehm]] in 1820.<ref name= Brehm >{{cite book | last = Brehm | first = Christian  | title = Handbuch der Naturgeschichte aller Vogel Deutschlands | year = 1820 | page = 266&ndash;271 |language=de}}</ref> The binomial name is derived from Greek; ''kerthios'' is a small tree-dwelling bird described by [[Aristotle]] and others, and ''brachydactyla'' comes from ''brakhus'', "short" and ''dactulos'' "finger", which refers, like the English name, to the fact that this species has shorter toes than the common treecreeper.<ref name = BTO>{{cite web|title= Short-toed Treecreeper ''Certhia brachydactyla'' [CL Brehm, 1820] |work=BirdFacts  |url= http://blx1.bto.org/birdfacts/results/bob14870.htm  |publisher= [[British Trust for Ornithology]] (BTO) |access-date=2008-05-23}}</ref>

This species is one of a group of very similar [[treecreeper]] species, all placed in the single genus ''[[Certhia]]''. Eight species are currently recognised, in two [[evolution]]ary lineages, a  [[Holarctic]] radiation, and a Sino-Himalayan group south and east of the [[Himalayas]]. The former group has a more warbling song, always (except in ''C. familiaris'' from China) starting or ending with a shrill ''sreeh''. The Himalayan species, in contrast, have a faster-paced trill without the ''sreeh'' sound. The short-toed treecreeper belongs to the northern group, along with the North American [[brown creeper]], ''C. americana'', the [[common treecreeper]], ''C. familaris'', of temperate Eurasia, and [[Hodgson's treecreeper]], ''C. hodgsoni'', from the southern rim of the [[Himalayas]].<ref name=Tietze>{{cite journal|last1=Tietze |first1=Dieter Thomas |last2= Martens|first2=Jochen |last3=Sun|first3=Yue-Hua |year= 2006|title= Molecular phylogeny of treecreepers (''Certhia'') detects hidden diversity|journal= [[Ibis (journal)|Ibis]] |volume=148 |issue= 3|pages= 477&ndash;488  |doi=10.1111/j.1474-919X.2006.00547.x|doi-access=free}}</ref>

===Subspecies===
There are five subspecies of short-toed treecreeper, which are all very similar and often [[hybrid (biology)|intergrade]] in areas where their ranges overlap. There is a general [[cline (biology)|cline]] in appearance from west to east across Europe, with upperparts becoming a darker and colder brown. The currently recognised subspecies are as follows:<ref name= Harrap/>
{| width=75% class="wikitable"
!width=20% | Subspecies
!width=35% | Range
!width=45% | Notes<ref name= Harrap/>
|-
| ''Certhia brachydactyla megarhyncha''
| [[Channel Islands]] and western Europe in northwest Spain, western and northern France, Belgium, the Netherlands and western Germany.
| See "Description". Western birds are paler and more rufous than those further east.
|-
| ''Certhia brachydactyla brachydactyla ''
| Continental Europe east of ''C. b. megarhyncha'', [[Sicily]] and [[Crete]].
| The [[Subspecies#Nomenclature|nominate subspecies]]; darker and colder brown above and more clearly white-streaked below than ''C. b. megarhyncha''.
|-
| ''Certhia brachydactyla mauritanica''
| North Africa.
| Darker and colder brown upperparts and more extensively buff-washed underparts than nominate subspecies. Different song.
|-
|''Certhia brachydactyla dorotheae''
|[[Cyprus]].
| Greyer upperparts and purer white underparts than nominate.<ref>{{cite book |last=Charalambidou |first=Iris |last2=Sparrow |first2= David J |last3=Stapley |first3=John |last4=Richardson |first4=Colin |editor-last=Sparrow |editor-first=David J |editor2-last=John |editor2-first=Eddie |title=An Introduction to the Wildlife of Cyprus|publisher=Terra Cypria |date=2016 |ISBN=978-9963-601-45-5|page= |url= }}</ref> Different song.
|-
| ''C. b. harterti''
| [[Asia Minor]] and the  [[Caucasus]].
| Similar to ''C. b. megarhyncha'', but duller rufous upperparts.
|}