[obol] Subject: creeper behavior

[Brandon Green]

I've seen RB and WB Nuthatches, as well as BC Chickadees, decide to "chill out" and remain motionless for 5 min or so without any evidence of anting or sunbathing (i.e., on cloudy days).  Outside of simply resting to conserve energy, I can't think of any other biological reason for this behavior.  This probably has nothing to do with the Brown Creeper behavior described in this thread, but I thought I'd bring it up, as creepers, nuthatches, and chickadees aren't too-distantly related.

Brandon
Eugene

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Subject: creeper behavior
From: "Darrel Faxon" <5hats AT peak.org>

Date: Tue, 31 Jul 2007 18:22:39 -0700

OBOLites,
 As I almost never see Brown Creepers at Thornton Creek, Lincoln County during 
the summer months, the one today was remarkable in any respect, but its 
behavior was exceptionally noteworthy. When I first noticed the bird, it was at 
the base of a large alder about forty feet from me, and well below eye level. 
The morning sun was shining directly on the trunk of the tree. The tree leaned 
a bit towards horizontal, rather than being completely straight up and down, 
and about eight feet off the ground where the first limb branched off, there 
was a little pocket whch was a bit more horizontal. As the creeper hitched 
itself up the tree, when it came to this spot, it suddenly spread its wings and 
flattened out against the trunk of the tree. It remained motionless in that 
position for close to a minute. In doing so, the bird itself seemed to 
disappear against the trunk, and all that showed were the two crescent wing 
bars, which took on the appearance of a marking or growth of lichen on the 
tree. 

 I would have thought that such an action was taken in response to the presence 
of a predator, except for two things. One, there were a number of other 
creatures nearby that would have assumed defensive measures had a predator been 
nearby, but they went right on with their activities in a normal manner. A 
Willow Flycatcher, Song Sparrow, and Townsend's Chipmunk all were within twenty 
feet of the creeper and showed no signs of alarm. Two, after the creeper 
resumed movement, it worked its way around the back of the alder, came out 
again near the base of the trunk, hitched its way up to the same spot, and 
repeated the performance: wings spread out, body pressed closely to the trunk, 
and motionless. This time it moved its head a bit more, as if preening. Then 
after about 30 seconds, it flew to another tree and went on about its normal 
feeding pattern. 

 Has anyone else seen creepers act like this? Any suggestions as to what the 
bird might have been doing? I have two postulations: One is that the bird 
considered me a predator, especially since I was above it on the bank, looking 
down. I rather doubt this idea. The other is that the bird was exposing itself 
to the bright sunlight in response to parasites. This idea seems plausible, 
especially since on both occasions, the activity included what appeared to be 
some brief preening following the spread wing act. In any case, it was very 
interesting, and something I never expected to see. 
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