The Sichuan treecreeper (''Certhia tianquanensis'') is a rare species of
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 ...
in the
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 ...
family
Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...
, Certhiidae.
It was described as
new to science (initially as a
subspecies of the
common treecreeper ''C. familiaris'') in 1995 from 14 specimens taken at four sites in the mountains of western
Sichuan
Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of th ...
,
China. In 2002, it was realized that these birds constituted a distinct species, and subsequent research suggests it is closest to the
Nepal treecreeper (''C. nipalensis'').
This bird is relatively large with a long tail. Its bill is strikingly short while the throat is whitish and darker underparts.
Sichuan treecreeper sings aloud with a rapid and high-pitched trill.
This species is believed to be a
relict species
In biogeography and paleontology, a relict is a population or taxon of organisms that was more widespread or more diverse in the past. A relictual population is a population currently inhabiting a restricted area whose range was far wider during ...
breeding in open old-growth stands of the conifer
Faber's fir (''Abies fabri'') at high altitude (2,500-2,830 m), although it is thought to undertake localized
altitudinal migrations in the winter (occurring down to at least 1,600 m).
It is known from five sites:
Labahe Natural Reserve (
Tianquin County),
Dayi County
Dayi County () is a county of Sichuan Province, China, it is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Chengdu, the provincial capital. It is Chengdu City's westernmost division, bordering the prefecture-level divisions of Ya'an ...
,
Shuanghe
Shuanghe is a county-level city in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, People's Republic of China. It is located east of Bole City and southwest of Alashankou and the border with Kazakhstan. Shuanghe governs an area of and has a population of ...
town (
Ebian County),
Wawu Shan (
Hongya County
Hongya () is a county of Sichuan Province, China. It is under the administration of Meishan
Meishan (; Sichuanese Pinyin: Mi2san1; local pronunciation: ; ), formerly known as Meizhou () or Qingzhou (), is a prefecture-level city with 2,955,21 ...
), and
Wujipung in
Wolong Biosphere Reserve. Within this small area, the species is thought to be patchily distributed because it seems to be confined to old stands of the Faber's fir.
The species forages for invertebrates in the upper story of large trees by creeping along branches and trunks.
Intensive logging of primary coniferous forests in the last century, even at high altitudes in the mountains of western China, has seriously reduced the potential range of this species. The Wawu Shan table mountain has steep slopes which are inaccessible to lumberjacks in the absence of extensive road construction, but it is not yet formally protected, and there are plans to open up the regions for tourism by building a cable railway.
The population was estimated at less than 1000 adult individuals, occurring over a range of 19,690 km
2. Formerly classified as
vulnerable species
A vulnerable species is a species which has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as being threatened with extinction unless the circumstances that are threatening its survival and reproduction improve.
Vulne ...
by the
IUCN, new research has shown it to be not as rare as it was believed. Consequently, it is downlisted to
near threatened
A near-threatened species is a species which has been categorized as "Near Threatened" (NT) by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as that may be vulnerable to endangerment in the near future, but it does not currently qualify fo ...
status in 2008.
[BLI (2008)]
Footnotes
References
*
BirdLife International
BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding ...
(BLI) (2008)
[2008 IUCN Redlist status changes] Retrieved 2008-MAY-23.
* Tietze, Dieter Thomas; Martens, Jochen & Sun, Yue-Hua (2006): Molecular phylogeny of treecreepers (''Certhia'') detects hidden diversity. ''
Ibis
The ibises () (collective plural ibis; classical plurals ibides and ibes) are a group of long-legged wading birds in the family Threskiornithidae, that inhabit wetlands, forests and plains. "Ibis" derives from the Latin and Ancient Greek word f ...