Habitat
Mainly associated with mid-successional to mature and old growth coniferous and deciduous forests (Kessler and Kogut 1985, Dellasala et al. 1996, Hejl et al. 2002a); rarely observed in logged habitats (Dellasala et al. 1992). Dead trees are an essential component of nesting habitat. In interior Alaska, occurs in upland white spruce (Picea glauca) and mixed white spruce-birch (Betula papyrifera) forests (Spindler and Kessel 1980) and in cottonwood (Populus balsamifera) and mixed white spruce-birch forests (Kessel 1998). In Prince William Sound, found primarily in hemlock (Tsuga spp.)-Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis) and mixed deciduous spruce woodlands (Isleib and Kessel 1973). In the Chugach Mountains of the Kenai Peninsula in southcoastal Alaska, the species occurred in forest stands over 100 years old and in a 10-year-old burn area; Brown Creepers were twice as abundant in the older stands (Quinlan 1979). In a study of island habitats in Southeast Alaska, creepers were found only in old growth habitats near saltwater, and were generally uncommon in that habitat (Kessler and Kogut 1985); on the mainland they were uncommon in spruce/hemlock forests (Gibson and MacDonald 1975 in Pogson et al. 1997).
References
DellaSala, D.A., J.C. Hagar, K.A. Engel, W.C. McComb. R.L. Fairbanks, E.G. Campbell. 1996. Effects of silviculture modifications of temperate rainforest on breeding and wintering bird communities, Prince of Wales Island, Southeast Alaska. Condor: 98: 706-721.
Hejl, S. J., K. R. Newlon, M. E. McFadzen, J. S. Young, and C. K. Ghalambor. 2002a. Brown Creeper (Certhia americana). In The Birds of North America, No 669 (A. Poole and F. Gill, Eds.). Philadelphia: The Academy of Natural Sciences; Washington, D.C.: The American Ornithologists’ Union.
Isleib, M.E., and B. Kessel. 1973. Birds of the north Gulf Coast-Prince William Sound region, Alaska. Biological Papers of the Univ. of Alaska 14. Univ. of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK. 149 pp.
Kessel, B. 1998. Habitat characteristics of some passerine birds in western North American taiga. University of Alaska Press, Fairbanks, AK.
Kessler, W. B. and T. E. Kogut. 1985. Habitat orientations of forest birds in southeastern Alaska. Northwest Science 59:58-65.
Pogson, T. H., S. E. Quinlan, and B. Lehnhausen. 1997. A manual of selected neotropical migrant birds of Alaska national forests. USDA, USFS, Juneau, AK.
Quinlan, S.E. 1979. Effects of controlled burning and succession of white spruce forests on breeding bird communities, Kenai Peninsula, Alaska. Unpublished report, Chugach National Forest, Seward, AK.
Spindler, M. A. and B. A. Kessel. 1980. Avian populations and habitat use in interior Alaska taiga. Syesis 13:61- 104.
