Certhia tianquanensis

The Sichuan Tree Creeper has a relatively short beak, and only the chin and throat of its lower body are silky white, while its chest, abdomen, and upper flanks are gray-brown.

As a newly discovered species, it is only distributed in very few places such as Sichuan and Shaanxi, and only lives in undamaged alpine primeval forests.

Sichuan Treecreeper, also known as Sichuan Treecreeper, has no subspecies.

In 1995, Professor Li Guiyuan of Sichuan Agricultural University, based on the results published in Tianquan and Dayi counties of Sichuan, proposed that the subspecies of the woodcreeper Certhia familiaris tianquanensis could be upgraded to a species, called Sichuan woodcreeper C.tianquanensis. In 2000, Sun Yuehua and Jochen Martens discovered the treecreeper described by Li Guiyuan on the top of Wawu Mountain in Hongya County, Sichuan Province. Through morphological comparison, song analysis and DNA identification, they identified it as an independent species - Sichuan treecreeper (Certhia tianquanensis, Li).

Sichuan treecreeper is the second bird species discovered and independently named by Chinese ornithologists. They have a unique behavior of spiral climbing around tree trunks. This petite bird is rare and lives in unspoiled alpine primeval forests.

In 2004, Paul Holt (UK) recorded a call similar to that of Sichuan treecreeper in Taibai Mountain, Qinling Mountains, Shaanxi Province, and sent the relevant recordings to German ornithologist J. Martens. From May 6 to 15, 2005, Sun Yuehua and Jochen Martens found that Sichuan Tree Creeper is indeed distributed in Qinling Mountains through recording playback and capture identification. The forest type of Sichuan Tree Creeper found in Taibai Mountain is mainly Bashan Leng (Abies fargesii)-Rough Bark Birch (Betula utilis), with an altitude of 2600-2800 m, and GPS is N34°01′, E107°48′. The forest type of Sichuan Tree Creeper found in Changqing Nature Reserve in Yang County is mainly Bashan Abies-Red Birch (B. albo-sinensis), with an altitude of 2550-2700 m, and GPS is N33°42′, E107°36′. In the above places where Sichuan Tree Creeper was found, Common Tree Creeper is distributed in the same area.

The family of woodcreepers, including the Sichuan woodcreeper, is commonly known as "tree-climbing birds" because of their habit of climbing up tree trunks in a spiral shape. Various secret weapons on its body have created this unique behavior. First of all, there is a pair of unusual claws. Their claws are long and curved, with sharp hooks on the tips of the claws, which are very firmly hooked on the rough bark and will never cause any danger of slipping. Secondly, the tail, which is called the "third leg", is solid. The tail feathers of the Sichuan woodcreeper are quite similar to the tail feathers of woodpeckers. When it stands on the tree trunk, the tail feathers will play a supporting role. When it crawls, the tail feathers will exert force downward at the beginning, and both feet will start at the same time, undulating upward in a wave-like manner. What's more interesting is that the Sichuan woodcreeper and the woodpecker have the same order of tail feather molting, starting from the outermost tail feathers and moving inwards in sequence. After the rest of the tail feathers are replaced, the central tail feathers will be replaced. In this way, even during the molting process, the tail can still maintain support for the body. This feature is significantly different from all other birds, and research believes that this is a unique adaptation to climbing arboreal life. As the old saying goes, "You can't have your cake and eat it too", when the Sichuan woodcreeper has such superb climbing skills, their flying ability is relatively less prominent. Their wings are short and round, and they are a type with weaker flying ability, so they can usually only fly short distances.

Like the woodpecker we are familiar with, the Sichuan woodcreeper is also an efficient "forest doctor", but their feeding method is different. The woodpecker first knocks the tree trunk with its hard and sharp beak, accurately locates the hiding position of the pest through the sound, pecks open the bark, digs a hole, and then uses its peculiarly constructed long tongue with a gelatinous liquid to reach into the pest's nest in the wood layer to complete the entire predation process. Unlike the precise guidance of woodpeckers, Sichuan woodcreepers conduct carpet searches. They often rotate upward from the base of the tree trunk, using their slender and slightly downward-bent beaks to carefully search every corner. When they turn to the upper part of the tree trunk, they fly to the base of another tree and continue to climb upward in the same way. If woodpeckers are the internists of the forest, responsible for removing pests from the trees, Sichuan woodcreepers are surgeons, responsible for cleaning pests on the surface of the trees. In order to prevent their eyes from being hurt by some tiny plant debris during foraging, Sichuan woodcreepers will also close their eyelids for protection. So what does Sichuan woodcreepers eat? According to the dissection of specimens collected by Mr. Li Guiyuan and his colleagues in the Laba River Nature Reserve in Tianquan, the contents of their stomachs are mainly insect fragments, and there are 50℅ larvae and eggs in each of the two stomachs.

As a bird with a narrow distribution range and relatively rare, the known breeding ecology data of Sichuan woodcreeper is very scarce. The "Preliminary Report on the Breeding Ecology of Sichuan Woodcreeper" published in the German "Ornithological Journal" in 2009 by the team of Researcher Sun Yuehua of the Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences is the first special research report. They pointed out that Sichuan woodcreeper begins to breed in May every year. Their nests are neither on tree branches like common bird nests, nor in tree holes like woodpeckers, but prefer to choose cracks in dead trees in the original fir forest at high altitudes. This may also be an important reason for their narrow distribution range. The nesting material is mainly moss, and also contains a small amount of feathers. The upper part of the nest wall is mixed with dry bamboo leaves. Their eggs are white, with dense red spots formed on the blunt part of the eggs, which is not much different from other woodcreepers. In the process of hatching the little life, the male bird returns to the nest every 6-13 minutes to feed the female bird. After hatching, the parents of the chicks jointly take on the task of raising the chicks. Generally speaking, the chicks of Sichuan treecreepers need to stay in the nest for half a month before leaving the nest, and the parents need to feed them for about 10 days from leaving the nest to living independently.

In order to find food, Sichuan treecreepers have a small range of vertical migration habits, and they are observed in the area of 1300-2000 meters above sea level in winter. In the Labahe Provincial Nature Reserve in November and December, and the neighboring Erlangshan National Forest Park, Sichuan treecreepers and golden-fronted sparrows appeared at the same time in four bird waves at different times and places. It seems that these two birds with the halo of "independent discovery and naming by Chinese ornithologists" seem to be birds of a feather flock together. In general, Sichuan treecreepers prefer to diligently spin up and down on the tree trunks, allowing you to take a close look. The Golden-fronted Babbler is much more lively. Although it sometimes looks for food at the junction of tree trunks and branches, it is more likely to chirp between branches and bushes, appear and disappear, and then fly by. The companions who cluster with them are relatively fixed, including the pale green babbler, red-winged babbler, brown-headed babbler, chestnut-hipped babbler, yellow-browed woodpecker, etc. In addition, there are also gray-headed spotted-winged babbler, red-headed spike babbler, yellow-fronted crowbird, red-breasted woodpecker, yellow-necked woodpecker, and spotted woodpecker. Everyone divides the work and cooperates, each taking what they need, "sweeping" everywhere in the forest.

Its endangered threat level is rated as VU (Vulnerable) in the Red List of Biodiversity in China (2015)

It is listed in the second level of China's "National Key Protected Wildlife List" (February 5, 2021).

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