Philippine Creepers or Rhabdornises
Creepers & Treecreepers
The Philippine creepers or rhabdornises are small passerine birds. The family is endemic to the Philippines. The group contains a single genus Rhabdornis with three species. They do not migrate other than local movements.
Description:
Philippine creepers similar in physical appearances to treecreepers. The perching birds have long, slender, pointed down-curved bills and brush-tipped tongues. The bird group consists of three species, the greater rhabdornis, the stripe-breasted rhabdornis, and the stripe-headed rhabdornis.
As a group, Philippine creepers are very similar in size and color. However, there is little known about the specific details of the family's size and color. Philippine creepers are marked and shaded with black, brown, red-browns, gray, and white; colors that help them to blend into the forests in which they live. The birds have dark brown streaks on their upperparts, white on the under parts and flanks (with blackish streaks), and lighter streaks on the other parts of their body. They have a long, slender, pointed, down-curved bill and brush-like tongue.
Philippine creepers are 6 to 7 inches (15 to 17 centimeters) long and weigh between 3 and 4 ounces (80 to 95 grams).
Diet / Food:
Philippine creepers run across the tops of tree branches, hop and jump between branches on trees, and crawl on tree bark found on the trunks and main limbs of trees during their foraging for food within the forest. They search on the bark of tree trunks and branches and even among flowers. Philippine creepers eat mostly insects, but also nectar (sweet liquid produced by flowering plants), fruits, and seeds. Their long, slender bill allows them to easily remove insects from bark, while their brush-tipped tongue enables them to quickly feed on nectar.
Species
- Stripe-headed Creeper, Rhabdornis mysticalis
- Long-billed Creeper, Rhabdornis grandis
- Plain-headed Creeper, Rhabdornis inornatus
There are two other small bird families with 'treecreeper' or 'creeper' in their name: Australian treecreepers, and treecreepers. The latter are discussed above, the former are an entirely unrelated family of passerine birds.
(Source: Wikipedia.org).
If you would like to add to or correct any of the above information, or would like to share with web visitors your own experiences, please e-mail the webmaster.
Photo contributions are welcome!
