Editing Certhia

{{Short description|Genus of birds}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| image = Certhia-americana-001.jpg
| image_caption = Brown creeper (''[[Certhia americana]]'')
| taxon = Certhia
| authority = [[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]], [[10th edition of Systema Naturae|1758]]
| type_species = ''Certhia familiaris'' ([[Eurasian treecreeper]])
| type_species_authority = [[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]], 1758
| subdivision_ranks = Species
| subdivision = See text
}}

''''' Certhia ''''' is the  genus of [[bird]]s containing the typical treecreepers, which makes up the [[family (biology)|family]] [[Treecreeper|Certhiidae]].

The typical treecreepers occur in many wooded parts of the North Temperate Zone. They do not normally [[bird migration|migrate]] other than for local movements, such as [[altitudinal migration]]s in the [[Himalaya]]n species.<ref name=mead>{{cite book | last = Mead | first = Christopher J. | year = 2003 | chapter = Holarctic Treecreepers | editor = Perrins, Christopher | editor-link = Chris Perrins | title = The Firefly Encyclopedia of Birds | publisher = Firefly Books | pages = [https://archive.org/details/fireflyencyclope0000unse/page/538 538–540] | isbn = 1-55297-777-3 | chapter-url-access = registration | chapter-url = https://archive.org/details/fireflyencyclope0000unse/page/538 }}</ref>

The treecreepers are small woodland birds, very similar in appearance (so they can present serious identification problems where two species occur together).  They are brown with streaks above and white below. They have thin pointed down-curved bills, which they use to extricate [[insect]]s from bark. They have stiff, pointed tail feathers, like [[woodpecker]]s and [[woodcreeper]]s, which they use to support themselves on vertical trees.  All the tail feathers but the two central ones are molted in quick succession; the two central ones are not molted till the others grow back, so the bird can always prop itself with its tail.<ref name=mead/><ref name=perr>{{cite book |editor=Forshaw, Joseph|author= Perrins, C.|year=1991|title=Encyclopaedia of Animals: Birds|publisher= Merehurst Press|location=London|isbn= 1-85391-186-0|page= 204}}</ref>

They build cup nests on loose twig platforms wedged behind patches of bark on tree trunks.  (They will also use special nest boxes clamped to tree trunks and made with two openings; the birds use one as an entrance and one as an exit.) They lay 3 to 9 eggs (usually 5 or 6), which are white with reddish-brown speckles and dots.  The female incubates for 14 or 15 days.  The young fledge 15 or 16 days later; the male may care for them while the female incubates and feeds a second brood.  Rarely a male may mate with a second female while the first is incubating, and there are even records of two females incubating their clutches side by side in a nest.<ref name=perr/><ref name=mead/>

At least some species roost in small oblong cavities that they dig out behind loose bark.  They may roost individually or in groups (probably families) that in extreme cold have been known to exceed 12 birds.<ref name=mead/>

==Taxonomy==
The genus ''Certhia'' was introduced in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist [[Carl Linnaeus]] in the [[10th edition of Systema Naturae|tenth edition]] of his ''[[Systema Naturae]]''.<ref>{{cite book | last=Linnaeus | first=Carl | author-link=Carl Linnaeus | year=1758 | title= Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis | volume=1 | edition=10th | page=118 | publisher=Laurentii Salvii | location=Holmiae (Stockholm) | language=Latin | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/727023 }}</ref> The genus name is from the [[Ancient Greek]] κερθιος/''kerthios'', a small insectivorous bird that lived in trees mentioned by [[Aristotle]], perhaps a treecreeper.<ref>{{cite book | last=Jobling | first=James A. | year=2010| title=The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names | publisher=Christopher Helm | location=London | isbn=978-1-4081-2501-4 | page=97 }}</ref> The [[type species]] is the [[Eurasian treecreeper]] (''Certhia familiaris'').<ref>{{ cite book | editor-last=Paynter | editor-first=Raymond A. Jr | year=1986 | title=Check-List of Birds of the World | volume=12 | publisher=Museum of Comparative Zoology | location=Cambridge, Massachusetts | page=150 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/14482267 }}</ref>

===Species===
Based on studies of [[cytochrome b|cytochrome ''b'']]  [[mtDNA]] [[DNA sequence|sequence]] and song structure,<ref>Tietze, Dieter Thomas; Martens, Jochen & Sun, Yue-Hua (2006): Molecular phylogeny of treecreepers (''Certhia'') detects hidden diversity. ''[[Ibis (journal)|Ibis]]'' '''148'''(3): 477-488 {{doi|10.1111/j.1474-919X.2006.00547.x}} (HTML abstract)</ref><ref>{{cite journal|first1=Dieter Thomas|last1=Tietze|first2=Jochen |last2=Martens |first3=Yue-Hua |last3=Sun |first4=Martin |last4=Paeckert|year=2008|title=Evolutionary history of treecreeper vocalisations(Aves: Certhia)|journal=Organisms, Diversity & Evolution|volume=8|issue=4 |pages=305–324|doi=10.1016/j.ode.2008.05.001|doi-access=free|bibcode=2008ODivE...8..305T }}</ref> the following nine species are recognized:<ref name=ioc>{{cite web| editor1-last=Gill | editor1-first=Frank | editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist) | editor2-last=Donsker | editor2-first=David | editor3-last=Rasmussen | editor3-first=Pamela | editor3-link=Pamela Rasmussen | date=July 2021 | title=Nuthatches, Wallcreeper, treecreepers, mockingbirds, starlings, oxpeckers | work=IOC World Bird List Version 11.2 | url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/nuthatch/ | publisher=International Ornithologists' Union | access-date=9 August 2021 }}</ref>

*[[Eurasian treecreeper]], ''Certhia familiaris''
*[[Hodgson's treecreeper]], ''Certhia hodgsoni'' (split from  ''C. familiaris'')
*[[Brown creeper]], ''Certhia americana''
*[[Short-toed treecreeper]], ''Certhia brachydactyla''
*[[Bar-tailed treecreeper]], ''Certhia himalayana''
*[[Rusty-flanked treecreeper]], ''Certhia nipalensis''
*[[Sikkim treecreeper]], ''Certhia discolor''
*[[Hume's treecreeper]], ''Certhia manipurensis'' (split from  ''C. discolor'')
*[[Sichuan treecreeper]], ''Certhia tianquanensis''

They form two [[evolution]]ary  lineages: the former four species represent a [[Holarctic]] radiation, whereas the remaining five are distributed in the area south and east of the [[Himalaya]]. Hodgson's treecreeper, recently realized to be a distinct species, is an offshoot of the common treecreeper's ancestor which has [[speciation|speciated]] south of the Himalaya. The former group has a more warbling song, always (except in ''C. familiaris'' from [[China]]) starting or ending with a shrill ''sreeh''. The Himalayan group, in contrast, has a faster-paced trill without the ''sreeh'' sound.

==Fossil record==

''Certhia immensa'' (Pliocene of Csarnota, Hungary)<ref>Kessler, E. 2013. Neogene songbirds (Aves, Passeriformes) from Hungary. – Hantkeniana,  Budapest, 2013, 8: 37-149.</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070926212408/http://ibc.hbw.com/ibc/phtml/familia.phtml?idFamilia=162 Treecreeper videos] on the Internet Bird Collection

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[[Category:Certhia| ]]
[[Category:Bird genera]]