Fauna Series No. 3

Fauna of the National Parks — No. 3 Birds and Mammals of Mount McKinley National Park

Birds

DESCRIPTIONS OF BIRD SPECIES

ROCKY MOUNTAIN CREEPER
Certhia familiaris montana [RIDGWAY]

GENERAL APPEARANCE.—A small, brown bird, evenly striped above with brown. The lower parts are white. The bill is long and slightly curved. This bird has a long tail of stiff, pointed feathers. Length, 5.6 inches.

IDENTIFICATION.—The slender, curved bill, pointed tail feathers, brown color, and its habit of creeping slowly up trunks of trees—these are the best field characters for this species.

DISTRIBUTION.—It breeds from Mount McKinley and central British Columbia south along the Rocky Mountains to Arizona and New Mexico.

HABITS.—Our sole record for this species is based upon a male bird collected October 21, 1907, by Charles Sheldon in the spruce woods near his winter cabin on the Toklat River. Sheldon states that this speciman was the only bird of this species observed. At best it is probably only a rare visitor to the McKinley region.

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Last Modified: Thurs, Oct 4 2001 10:00:00 pm PDT
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