Climacteris

{{Short description|Genus of birds}}

{{Automatic taxobox

| image = Brown Treecreeper bowra apr07.jpg

| image_caption = Brown treecreeper (Climacteris picumnus)

| taxon = Climacteris

| authority = Temminck, 1820

| type_species = Climacteris picumnus{{cite web |url= https://www.aviansystematics.org/4th-edition-checklist?viewfamilies=117 |title= Climacteridae |author= |date= |website= aviansystematics.org |publisher= The Trust for Avian Systematics |access-date= 2023-07-16}}

| type_species_authority = Temminck, 1824

| synonyms = Whitlocka G. M. Mathews, 1912.
Neoclima G. M. Mathews, 1912.

}}

Climacteris is a genus of bird in the family Climacteridae. These birds and the other members of the family, genus Cormobates, are similar to Northern Hemisphere creepers, Certhiidae, in climbing helically up tree trunks looking for insect food. Differences from Cormobates are

  • Climacteris species have black, slightly downcurved bills.
  • They have a rusty chest stripe in the female. (In Cormobates the female is marked on the face.)
  • They have simple vocal repertoires that are the same for both sexes.
  • They lay heavily marked pinkish eggs (Simpson and Day 1999).
  • They are cooperative breeders; male offspring of previous broods and sometimes other individuals help breeding pairs (Doerr, 2003).

It contains the following species:

class="wikitable"
ImageScientific nameCommon NameDistribution
120pxClimacteris affinisWhite-browed treecreeperAustralia.
120pxClimacteris erythropsRed-browed treecreeperAustralia
120pxClimacteris picumnusBrown treecreeperCape York, Queensland, throughout New South Wales and Victoria to Port Augusta and the Flinders Ranges, South Australia
Climacteris melanurusBlack-tailed treecreepernorth and northwestern Australia
120pxClimacteris rufusRufous treecreeperAustralia.

The Australian author G. M. Mathews published new generic names in 1912, based on characteristics that distinguished two species from this genus,

  • Whitlocka, to describe the black-tailed northwestern species, Climacteris melanurus. The generic epithet honoured the ornithologist F. Lawson Whitlock.[https://www.hbw.com/dictionary/definition/whitlocka whitlocka] Jobling, J. A. (2018). Key to Scientific Names in Ornithology. In: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D.A. & de Juana, E. (eds.) (2018). Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. (retrieved from www.hbw.com on 21 July 2018).
  • Neoclima, assigning the species Climacteris picumnus, brown treecreeper, of Temminck as the type.[https://www.hbw.com/dictionary/definition/neoclima neoclima] Jobling, J. A. (2018). Key to Scientific Names in Ornithology. In: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D.A. & de Juana, E. (eds.) (2018). Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. (retrieved from www.hbw.com on 21 July 2018).

References

{{Reflist}}

Further reading

  • {{cite book | last = Doerr | first = V. A. J. | year = 2003 | title = The New Encyclopedia of Birds | chapter = Australasian Treecreepers (Climacteridae) | editor = Christopher Perrins | editor-link = Christopher Perrins | publisher = Oxford University Press | isbn = 0-19-852506-0}}
  • Peterson, Alan P. (Editor). 1999. [http://www.zoonomen.net Zoological Nomenclature Resource (Zoonomen)]. Accessed 2007-08-30.
  • {{cite book | last = Simpson | first = Ken | author2 = Day, Nicolas | year = 1999 | title = Birds of Australia | publisher = Princeton University Press | pages = [https://archive.org/details/birdsofaustralia00kens/page/369 369–370] | isbn = 0-691-04995-5 | url = https://archive.org/details/birdsofaustralia00kens/page/369 | access-date = 2007-08-30 | url-access = registration }}

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Category:Climacteridae

Category:Bird genera

Category:Endemic birds of Australia

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