Brown Creeper (click to see a larger version)
I saw this Brown Creeper at Montrose this morning. Brown Creepers are songbirds that make a living climbing up tree trunks in search of insects and other arthropods. This bird froze for a few seconds in response to a nearby Cooper’s Hawk. The streaky brown plumage makes for excellent camouflage, and when they don’t move they almost disappear against the bark of a tree.
Your photo captures the camouflage effect very well. Last year I found a Brown Creeper on one of the downtown streets of Chicago. It had collided into a window and was stunned. I picked it up and held it in my one hand. The bird was tiny and light as a feather. The creeper had an extremely long, delicate, finely curved bill. I was immediately informed by that bill… about the insect plucking ability. BTW. By the time I got off the blue line with the creeper it had recovered and I was able to release it into the woods where it immediately alighted at the base of a tree and began to creep. Karen