The Philippine creepers or rhabdornises are small

passerine A passerine () is any bird of the order Passeriformes (; from Latin 'sparrow' and '-shaped'), which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds, passerines are distinguished from other orders of birds by th ...

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweig ...

s and form the

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

''Rhabdornis''. They are

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

to the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. They do not migrate, other than to make local movements.

Taxonomy

The genus ''Rhabdornis'' was introduced in 1853 by German naturalist Ludwig Reichenbach to accommodate the

stripe-headed rhabdornis The stripe-headed rhabdornis or stripe-headed creeper (''Rhabdornis mystacalis''), also known as the stripe-sided rhabdornis, is a species of bird currently placed in the starling family, Sturnidae. It is endemic to the Philippines The ...

. The name combines the

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic p ...

''rhabdos'' meaning "stripe" with ''ornis'' meaning "bird." The relationship of the Philippine creepers to other bird species was formerly uncertain and the genus ''Rhabdornis'' was placed in its own family Rhabdornithinae. Molecular phylogenetic studies have revealed that the Philippine creepers are aberrant members of the starling family Sturnidae. The genus contains four species: *

Stripe-headed rhabdornis The stripe-headed rhabdornis or stripe-headed creeper (''Rhabdornis mystacalis''), also known as the stripe-sided rhabdornis, is a species of bird currently placed in the starling family, Sturnidae. It is endemic to the Philippines The ...

, stripe-headed rhabdornis or stripe-sided rhabdornis, ''Rhabdornis mystacalis'' *

Grand rhabdornis The grand rhabdornis (''Rhabdornis grandis''), also known as the long-billed rhabdornis or long-billed creeper, is a species of bird currently placed in the starling family, Sturnidae. It is endemic to Luzon Island in the Philippines. It is somet ...

, long-billed rhabdornis or grand rhabdornis, ''Rhabdornis grandis'' *

Stripe-breasted rhabdornis The stripe-breasted rhabdornis (''Rhabdornis inornatus''), also known as the stripe-breasted creeper or plain-headed creeper, is a species of bird currently placed in the starling family, Sturnidae. It is endemic to the southern and central Phili ...

, plain-headed creeper or stripe-breasted rhabdornis, ''Rhabdornis inornatus'' *

Visayan rhabdornis The Visayan rhabdornis (''Rhabdornis rabori'') is a species of bird currently placed in the starling family, Sturnidae. It is endemic to the central Philippines on the islands of Negros and Panay. It was previously considered a subspecies of the ...

, ''Rhabdornis rabori''

Description

The Philippine creepers are similar in appearance to

treecreeper The treecreepers are a family, Certhiidae, of small passerine birds, widespread in wooded regions of the Northern Hemisphere and sub-Saharan Africa. The family contains eleven species in two genera, '' Certhia'' and '' Salpornis''. Their plumage ...

s (Certhiidae). They have thin pointed down-curved bills, which they can use to extricate insects from bark, but they have brush-like tongues, which enable them to also feed on nectar.

References

External links

Don Robertson's Bird Families of the World
Rhabornises. Contains photos of all 3 species. Version of 2006-JAN-25. Retrieved 2007-JUL-20.
Flickr Field Guide: Birds of the World
Photo of ''Rhabdornis mystacalis''. Retrieved 2007-JUL-19. {{DEFAULTSORT:creeper, Philippine Sturnidae * Taxa named by Ludwig Reichenbach hu:Barkósfakuszfélék