Salpornithidae – Spotted Creepers

Salpornithidae (Spotted Creepers) is a family of passerines, which was formerly included in the family Certhiidae, but has recently been elevated after DNA and other research. The Salpornis genus has, in the past, also been included with the nuthatches in the family Sittidae. Molecular phylogenetic analyses show them to be definitely within the Certhioidea, but still leaves some uncertainty about their placement in relation to the genera Sitta, Tichodroma and Certhia. While they appear similar to the Certhia (Treecreepers), they do not use their tails to support them while climbing and some molecular evidence shows them to be closer to the Sittidae (Nuthatches) while another study suggests a closer relation to the Wallcreeper Tichodroma muraria.

The generic name is derived from the Greek ‘salpinktes’ for wren and ‘ornis’ for bird. The genus has two species with the African species earlier considered as a subspecies. Differences in size, calls and mitochondrial DNA sequences have supported the splitting of the African and Indian populations.

Their tails have twelve feathers and are rounded at the tips. The nostril is exposed and there are no rictal bristles. The tongue ends in five bristles. They certainly look like larger versions of the treecreepers, being similarly cryptically patterned and foraging in a similar way along the trunks and branches of tree, gleaning invertebrates from the bark. However, unlike the treecreepers, they do not use their tail to brace against a tree’s trunk and lack the characteristic stiffened tail feathers. Thery have an odd distribution, with one species occurring in sub-Saharan Africa and the other in central India, both primarily occupy open mature woodland.

Indian Spotted Creeper Salpornis spilonota – ©Sumeet Moghe CC BY-SA 3.0  via Wikimedia Commons

Large, rough-barked trees are required for breeding. They are known to build deep open cup nests constructed of leaf stalks, rootlets, and bark chips in a tree fork, which are held together with spider webs and insect cocoons and decorated with lichen, making them extremely well hidden. Little else is known about their breeding biology although they appear to be monogamous with biparental care. Females typically lay one to three eggs. Both the male and female participate in nest construction and feeding the chicks; in at least the Indian Spotted Creeper Salpornis spilonota, both the male and female also incubate the eggs, but less is known about the African Spotted Creeper Salpornis Salvadori; conflicting evidence suggests that only the female may incubate.

They are primarily insectivorous, taking a wide assortment of small insects and other invertebrates, particularly spiders. Just like the Treecreepers, most food is obtained by gleaning and probing bark crevices on trees, with birds foraging on trees starting from the base and working their way upward. However, they frequently join mixed species flocks.