Episode 77: Brown Creeper – Voice of the Wild

This is Brodie with Illinois Extension and I’m here with a new “voice of the wild”

This bark-colored bird is a keen inspector of furrows and fissures in the bark of mature trees. They’ll use their stiff tailfeathers for support as they probe into these cracks with their decurved bill..and Unlike those other tree trunk specialists, the nuthatches, this bird tends to spiral up trees while they forage. This is the brown creeper.

The creeper is a common winter bird who mates in the far north. Their call is very thin and high, it’s similar in tone to the golden crowned kinglet but the creeper's call is unbroken, while the golden crowned’s is divided in two or three. The creeper is a solitary forager, so in the middle of a cold and seemingly lifeless winter hike, you may still find one bird; a little, charming, brown creeper.

Thank you to the Macaulay library at the Cornell lab for today’s sound. Learn more about voice of the wild at go.illinois.edu/VOW