Editing Short-toed treecreeper (section)

==Behaviour and ecology==

===Breeding===
[[File:Certhia brachydactyla mauritanica Witherby, 1905, Souk Ahras.jpg|thumb|Eggs of ''Certhia brachydactyla'' [[MHNT]]]]
[[File:Short-toed Treecreeper (Certhia brachydactyla)cropped.jpg|thumb|Adult foraging on a trunk]]
The short-toed nests in tree crevices or behind bark flakes. Old [[woodpecker]] nests, crevices in buildings or walls, and artificial nest boxes or flaps are also used.<ref name=Harrap/>

The nest has an often bulky base of twigs, pine needles, grass or bark, and a lining of finer material such as feathers, wool, moss, [[lichen]] or spider web. The eggs are laid between April and mid June (typical clutch 5&ndash;7 eggs); they are white with purple-red blotches, {{convert|15.6|x|12.2|mm|in|abbr=on}} in size. The eggs are incubated by the female alone for 13 – 15 days until the [[altricial]] downy chicks hatch; they are then fed by both parents, but brooded by the female alone, for a further 15 – 18 days to fledging.<ref name =BWP/> This species often raises a second brood. The male starts constructing a new nest while the female is still feeding the first brood, and when the chicks are 10–12 days old, he takes over feeding duties while the female completes the new nest.<ref name=Harrap/>

A Spanish study suggests that [[Habitat fragmentation|forest fragmentation]] adversely affects the numbers of short-toed treecreepers present, as is also the case with the common treecreeper. Species that depend on relatively scarce resources, such as tree trunks, only occupy the larger forests, whereas those such as [[tit (bird)|tits]] and [[common firecrest]]s that exploit abundant, ubiquitous resources are distributed uniformly through woodlands of all sizes.<ref name= Tellería >{{cite journal|last1= Tellería |first1= J. L. |last2=Santos|first2=T. |year=1995 |title= Effects of forest fragmentation on a guild of wintering passerines: The role of habitat selection |journal=Biological Conservation |volume=71 |issue=1 |pages=61&ndash;67| doi = 10.1016/0006-3207(94)00021-H }}</ref><ref name= Huhta>{{cite journal|last1= Huhta |first1= Esa |last2=Aho|first2=Teija |last3=Jäntti|first3=Ari |last4=Suorsa|first4=Petri |last5=Kuitunen|first5=Markku |last6=Nikula|first6=Ari |last7= Hakkarainen|first7=Harri  |date=February 2004 |title= Forest Fragmentation Increases Nest Predation in the Eurasian Treecreeper |journal= Conservation Biology|volume=18 |issue=1 |pages=148&ndash;155 | doi=10.1111/j.1523-1739.2004.00270.x}}</ref>

===Feeding===
The short-toed treecreeper typically seeks [[invertebrate]] food on tree trunks, starting near the tree base and spiralling its way up using its stiff tail feathers for support. Unlike a [[nuthatch]], it does not come down trees head first, but flies to the base of another nearby tree. It uses its long thin bill to extract insects and spiders from crevices in the bark. Although normally found on trees, it will occasionally feed on walls or bare ground, or amongst fallen pine needles. It may add some seeds to its diet in the colder months.<ref name = BWP/>

===Habits===
As a small woodland bird with [[crypsis|cryptic]] plumage and a quiet call, the short-toed treecreeper is easily overlooked as it hops [[mouse|mouse-like]] up a vertical trunk, progressing in short hops, using its stiff tail and widely splayed feet as support. Nevertheless, it is not wary, and is largely indifferent to the presence of humans. It has a distinctive erratic and undulating flight, alternating fluttering [[butterfly|butterfly-like]] wing beats with side-slips and tumbles. It is solitary in winter, but in cold weather up to twenty or more birds will roost together in a suitable sheltered crevice, or in a star formation under eaves of buildings.<ref name=Harrap/>