Brown Creeper Similar Species Comparison
Main SpeciesBrown Creeper
Adult
Tiny and delicate songbird. It has a long, spine-tipped tail, a slim body, and a slender, decurved bill. Its back is mottled brown and the underparts are white.
© Scott Martin / Macaulay LibraryMassachusetts, March 05, 2019Adult
Tiny with a long tail and a sharp, curved bill. Its cryptically colored back helps it blend in with the trees.
© Scott Martin / Macaulay LibraryMassachusetts, February 03, 2017Adult
Spirals up tree trunks holding its legs on either side of its body and its long, curved claws hooked into the bark. Braces itself with its stiff tail as it probes crevices for insects.
© Timothy Barksdale / Macaulay LibraryArkansas, July 28, 2004Not all videos have sound
Adult
Spirals up trees moving with short, jerky motions using their stiff tails for support.
© Scott Martin / Macaulay LibraryMassachusetts, January 06, 2017Adult
Found primarily in mature evergreen or mixed evergreen-deciduous forests during the breeding season.
© David Badke / Macaulay LibraryBritish Columbia, March 25, 2017Similar SpeciesWhite-breasted Nuthatch
Adult
Nuthatches usually move down tree trunks instead of up like Brown Creepers. They have shorter tails and they don’t lean on them for support the way Brown Creepers do. Nuthatches are much grayer on the back, totally lacking the streaky brown camouflage of Brown Creepers.
© Ryan Schain / Macaulay LibraryMassachusetts, February 22, 2011Similar SpeciesRed-breasted Nuthatch
Adult
Nuthatches have shorter tails and don't lean on them for support the way Brown Creepers do. Red-breasted Nuthatches are grayer and lack the streaky brown camouflage of Brown Creepers.
© Scott Martin / Macaulay LibraryMassachusetts, February 03, 2017Similar SpeciesPygmy Nuthatch
Adult
Pygmy Nuthatches have a shorter bill than Brown Creepers and they don't have streaks on the back like Brown Creepers.
© Gordon Karre / Macaulay LibraryWashington, March 13, 2017Similar SpeciesBrown-headed Nuthatch
Adult/immature
Brown-headed Nuthatches are grayer above than the streaky-backed Brown Creeper.
© Shelley Rutkin / Macaulay LibraryNorth Carolina, March 17, 2017Similar SpeciesGolden-crowned Kinglet
Adult male
Golden-crowned Kinglets sound like Brown Creepers and live in the same habitats, but they are green and gray with a short, straight bill and short tail. They forage among branches and needles rather than on bark.
© Ryan Schain / Macaulay LibraryMassachusetts, December 05, 2016Similar SpeciesBlack-and-white Warbler
Adult male
Black-and-white Warblers forage in a similar manner to Brown Creepers, but they are much more strongly patterned in black and white, with shorter tails that they don’t use for support like creepers do.
© Ryan Schain / Macaulay LibraryMassachusetts, May 06, 2017Rotate Your Device to Better Compare
Compare with Similar Species
Click on an image to compare
Don't miss a thing! Join our email list
The Cornell Lab will send you updates about birds,
birding, and opportunities to help bird conservation.