Spotted Creeper - Salpornis spilonotus

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Common Name : Spotted Creeper
Scientific Name : Salpornis spilonotus (Franklin, 1831)

Order : Passeriformes
Family : Certhiidae
Taxonomic Group : Passeriformes - Certhiidae ( Treecreepers )
Vernacular Name : Gujarat: Rakhodi thadchad

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General Species Profile

Taxonomy

Clements Checklist of Birds of the World 6.4 December 2009 Updated

Common Name : Spotted Creeper
Scientific Name : Salpornis spilonotus
Order : Passeriformes Family : Certhiidae (Creepers)
Number of SubSpecies : 6

Taxon Category	Sub Species / Race	Range
subspecies	Salpornis spilonotus emini	Gambia to ne Zaire and nw Uganda
subspecies	Salpornis spilonotus erlangeri	Ethiopia
subspecies	Salpornis spilonotus salvadori	Extreme e Uganda to w Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia and Malawi
subspecies	Salpornis spilonotus xylodromus	Zimbabwe and adjacent Mozambique
subspecies	Salpornis spilonotus spilonotus	Central and western India
subspecies	Salpornis spilonotus rajputanae	W India (cent. and se Rajasthan from Sambhar to Mount Abu)

Howard and Moore Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World 2006

3rd Edition, 2003. Revised and Corrected per Corrigenda to December 31, 2006

Common Name : Spotted Creeper
Scientific Name : Salpornis spilonotus
SubFamily : Salpornithinae

Number of SubSpecies : 6

Sub Species / Race
Salpornis spilonotus emini
Salpornis spilonotus erlangeri
Salpornis spilonotus salvadori
Salpornis spilonotus xylodromus
Salpornis spilonotus rajputanae
Salpornis spilonotus spilonotus

IOC World Bird Names (version 2.2)

IOC Common Name : Spotted Creeper
IOC Scientific Name : Salpornis spilonotus

Distribution :
Region : AF, OR Range : w, c, e, se, also India
Order : PASSERIFORMES Family : Certhiidae
Category : Treecreepers

A Synopsis of the Birds of India and Pakistan

SYNOPIS NO : 1840- 1841

Scientific Name: Salpornis spilonotus
Common Name: Spotted Grey Creeper

Birdlife International Checklist Ver 3 June 2010

Common Name : Spotted Treecreeper
Scientific Name : Salpornis spilonotus ((Franklin, 1831))
Birdlife Synonym : Spotted Creeper (7); Spotted Tree-Creeper (10); Spotted Creeper (15)

BirdLife Redlist Status Year 2010: LC
BirdLife Species FactSheet for Spotted Treecreeper ( Salpornis spilonotus )

Taxonomy Treatment : R

International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources

IUCN Common Name (Eng) : Spotted Treecreeper, Spotted Creeper, Spotted Tree-creeper
Scientific Name : Salpornis spilonotus (Franklin, 1831)
French Name : Grimpereau TachetÃ©
IUCN Redlist Species FactSheet for Spotted Treecreeper, Spotted Creeper, Spotted Tree-creeper ( Salpornis spilonotus )

Species : spilonotus
Genus : Salpornis
Family : Certhiidae Order : Passeriformes

IUCN RedList Status : LC

IUCN RedList Criteria Version : 3.1
IUCN RedList Year Assessed : 2008
IUCN RedList Petitioned : N

Oriental Bird Club Checklist Draft Novemebr 2009

Family : CERTHIIDAE

Scientific Name : Salpornis spilonotus
Common Name : Spotted Creeper

Birdlife Checklist Difference : Spotted Treecreeper

Bibliography

Bibliography of Spotted Creeper ( Salpornis spilonotus )
Number of Results found : 12

1. Dale A.Zimmerman; Donald A.Turner; David J.Pearson , (2001), Spotted Creeper (Salpornis spilonotus salvadori), BIRDS of KENYA & NORTHERN TANZANIA; Princeton University Press, : 103 / 486.

2. Krys Kazmierczak; Ber van Perlo , (2000), Spotted Creeper (Salpornis spilonotus), A FIELD GUIDE TO THE BIRDS OF THE INDIAN SUBCONTINENT; Yale University Press, : 280.

3. Saxena R; , (1999), Spotted Grey Creeper (Salpornis spilonotus), Newsletter for Birdwatchers, 39:5: 80.

4. Salim Ali; S Dillon RipleyÂ , (1998), No. 1841. Spotted Grey Creeper (Salpornis spilonotus spilonotus) (Franklin), Handbook of the Birds of India and Pakistan; Oxford University Press, New Delhi, Volume 9 (Robins to Wagtails ): 233.

5. Salim Ali; S Dillon RipleyÂ , (1998), No. 1840. Spotted Grey Creeper (Salpornis spilonotus rajputanae ) R. & A. Meinertzhagen, Handbook of the Birds of India and Pakistan; Oxford University Press, New Delhi, Volume 9 (Robins to Wagtails ): 233.

6. Ian Sinclair; Phil Hockey; Warwick Tarboton , (1997), Spotted Creeper (Salpornis spilonotus), BIRDS of SOUTHERN AFRICA; 2nd edition, Princeton University Press, : 306.

7. Randall, R. , (1994), The Spotted Creeper Salpornis spilonotus new to Botswana., Babbler, 28: 38.

8. Santharam V; , (1990), Spotted Grey Creeper and Common Babbler, Newsletter for Birdwatchers, 30:9&10: 9.

9. Kannan R; , (1986), Searching for the Spotted Creeper, Newsletter for Birdwatchers, 26:11-12: 17 - 19.

10. , (1968), BOOKS , Ibis, 110:2: 213 - 217.

11. Meinertzhagen R;Meinertzhagen AC; , (1926), [description of four new Indian and Himalayan - Salpornis spilonotus rajputanae, Carpodacus rubicilloides lapersonnei, Eremophila alpestris deosai, and Tringa totanus terrignotae], Bulletin of the British Ornithologists Club, 46:304: 83 - 86.

12. LeMesurier RP; , (1874), Letters to the Editor, Stray Feathers, 2:1,2&3: 335.

Book Excerpts

The Birds of India - Vol - I (1862)

Spotted-Grey Creeper (Salpornis spilonota)

246. Salpornis spilonota, Frankl.

Certhia, apud Franklin, P. Z. S., 1831.

The Spotted-grey Creeper.

Descr. - Above fuscous-grey, white-spotted, with narrow white streaks on the head; throat and abdomen whitish, the latter barred with dusky ; tail banded white and fuscous.

Length 5 3/4 inches.

It inhabits the hilly parts of Behar, and probably the hilly regions of Central India, Bundelcund, &c. This bird does not appear to have been found again since Franklin first procured it, except by Hodgson, who received it from Behar, and the exact locality is still unknown. It is probably the hilly and jungly tract that extends from Mount Parisnath (where it is very likely to be found), through Chota Nagpore, towards the source of the Nerbudda.

Handbook to the Birds of the Bombay Presidency (1885)

Salpornis spilonota

Salpornis spilonota, Franklin.

246. :- Jerdon's Birds of India, Vol. I, p. 382; Butler, Guzerat; Stray Feathers, Vol. III, p. 462.

The Spotted-grey Creeper.

Length, 5.75 ; wing, 3.5 ; tail, 1.7 ; tarsus, 1.6 ; bill at front, 1. Above fuscous-grey, white-spotted, with narrow white streaks on the head; throat and abdomen whitish, thelatter barred with dusky; tail banded and fuscous.

The Spotted-grey Creeper has been obtained at Mount Aboo; it has not been recorded from any other portion of our limits.

Nests and Eggs of Indian Birds - Vol I (1889)

Spotted-Grey Creeper (Salpornis spilonota)

Salpornis spilonota (Frankl.), Jerdon. BIyth. i, p. 382.

Mr. Cleveland found a nest of this species at Hattin (Hathin), in the Gurgaon district (in present day Haryana), on the 16th April. The nest was placed on a large ber-tree in a patch of preserved jungle, at a height of about 10 feet from the ground. It was cup-shaped, placed on the upper surface of a horizontal bough at the angle formed between this and a vertical shoot, to which it was attached on one side, the other three sides being free. The nest itself is unlike any other that I have seen. It is composed entirely of bits of leaf-stalks, tiny bits of leaves, chips of bark, the dung of caterpillars, all cemented together everywhere with cobwebs, so that the whole nest is a firm but yet soft and elastic mass. The nest is cup-shaped, but oval and not circular; its exterior diameters are 4 and 3 inches respectively; its greatest height 2 inches; the cavity measures 2·6 by 2·2, and 1·1 in depth.

The texture of the nest, as I have already said, is extremely peculiar; it is extremely strong, and though pulled off the bough on which it rested and the off-shoot to which it was attached, is as perfect apparently as the day it was found, bearing on the lower surface an exact cast of the inequalities of the bark on which it rested; but it is soft, yielding, and flabby in the hand, almost as much so as if it was jelly. The nest contained two almost full-grown nestlings and one addled egg.

This egg is a very regular oval, slightly broader at one end, the shell fine and fairly glossy; the ground-colour is pale greenish white; round the large end there is an irregular imperfect zone of blackish-brown specks and tiny spots, and round about these is more or less of a brown nimbus, and over the rest of the egg a very few specks and spots of blackish, dusky, and pale brown are scattered. It measures 0·68 by 0·53.

Another nest was found about 15 feet up a tree. It was partly seated on and partly wedged in between the fork of two thick oblique branches, to the rough bark of which the bottom only was firmly cemented with cobwebs, the sides, as in the case of the first nest, being quite free and detached from its surroundings. As regards dimensions and composition, the latter nest was an exact counterpart of that first taken. It contained two partially fledged nestlings.

The Fauna Of British India including Ceylon and Burma 1st Ed. Vol I (1889)

Spotted-Grey Creeper (Salpornis spilonota)

347. Salpornis spilonota.

The Spotted-Grey Creeper.

Certhia spilonota, Frankl. P. Z. S. 1831, p. 121. Salpornis spilonota (Frankl.), Jerd. B. I. i, p. 382; Blanf. J. A.S. B. xxxviii, p. 170; Adam, S. F. i, p. 375 ; Ball, S. F. ii, p. 397; Hume, Cat. no. 240 ; Davidson, S. F. x, p. 300 ; Gadow, Cat. B. M. viii, p. 330; Barnes, Birds Bom. p. 139; Oates in Hume's N. & E. 2nd ed. i, p. 220.

Coloration. Lores and a line behind the eye black; above these a broad white supercilium; ear-coverts, cheeks, chin, and throat white ; crown ashy brown streaked with white ; the whole upper plumage and wing-coverts black spotted with white; quills dark brown, spotted with white on both webs and partially barred with blackish; tail black, barred with white, the bars interrupted at the shaft, and the middle feathers ashy down the middle; lower plumage pale fulvous barred with black.

The young appear to resemble the adults.

Legs and feet blackish plumbeous; bill blackish, light below; iris dark brown (Hume).

Length about 6; tail 2.3; wing 3.5; tarsus .65; bill from gapel.

Distribution. Throughout a considerable portion of the plains of India, from the foot of the Himalayas southwards to near the Kistna river. On the west the limits of this species appear to be Gurgaon, Sambhar, Ajmere, and Abu. Further south it has been met with at Dhulia in Khandesh, and Blanford records it from Chanda, Sironcha, and the Godavari valley. Ball obtained it at Sambalpur and at various localities in Chutia Nagpur, and I have seen a specimen collected in Behar, but in what particular part of it was not recorded. Our knowledge of the distribution of this peculiar bird is therefore far from satisfactory.

Habits, &c. Blanford writes : - " These birds keep to the largest trees, running round the stems in all directions and flying with a steady flight, not unlike that of a Woodpecker, but swifter and more elegant. They have a whistling note." Mr. Cleveland found the nest in Gurgaon on the 16th April. It was placed on a horizontal bough of a tree and attached to a vertical shoot. It was cup-shaped, and composed of bits of leaf-stalk and leaves, chips of bark, and the dung of caterpillars, bound together by cobwebs ; it was very firm and elastic. The nest contained two young birds and one egg. This latter was greenish white, with a ring of blackish-brown specks round the large end, and a few specks over the remainder of the shell. It measured .68 by .53.

The Avifauna of British India and its dependencies - Vol II (1890)

Spotted Grey Creeper (Salpornis spilonotus)

713. Salpornis Spilonotus (Frankl),

Gray, P. Z. S. 1847, p. 7 ; id., Gen. B. i. p. 144; Jerd., B. Ind. i. p. 382, No. 246; Ball, Str. F. 1874, p. 397; 1876, p. 232; 1878, p. 209; Butler, Str. F. 1875, P. 462; 1876, p. 37 ; Swinhoe, B. Cent. India, Ibis, 1884 ; Gadow., Cat. B. Br. Mus. viii. p. 330. Certhia spilonota, Franklin, P. Z. S. 1831, p. 121. -

The Spotted Grey Creeper.

Upper surface of the body dark brown with numerous white spots, the crown with longitudinal white streaks ; wings with transverse barrings on the inner webs of the quills; tail except the central pair with 5-6 distinct bars; throat and sides of the head pure white ; all the rest of the under parts pale, buff or buffish white, with numerous dark brown bars ; culmen pale brown.

Length. - 4.8 to 5 inches ; wing 3.5 ; tail 2; tarsus 0.6.

Hab. - Central India (Behar, Oude and Bundelkund).

The Fauna Of British India including Ceylon and Burma 2nd Ed. Vol I (1922)

Spotted-Grey Creeper (Salpornis spilonotus)

(456) Salpornis spilonotus.

The Spotted-Grey Creeper.

Certhia spilonota Frank!, P. 2. S., 1831, p. 121 (Ganges between Calcutta and Benares). Salpornis spilonota. Blanf. & Oates, i, p. 333.

Vernacular names. None recorded.

Description. Whole upper plumage, wings and tail black, spotted and barred with white; forehead and crown brownish; a broad white supercilium; lores and a line through the eye unspotted black; chin and throat white, the sides of the latter sometimes speckled with black; lower plumage pale cinnamon-fulvous barred with black and with white tips to some of the feathers.

Colours of soft parts. Iris dark brown; bill above dark blackish horny, below pale horny; legs and feet dark plumbeous.

Measurements Length about 150 mm.; wing 84 to 91 mm.; tail 45 to 52 mm.; tarsus about 17 mm.; culmen 21 to 24 mm.

Distribution. Nothing has been added to our knowledge of this bird's distribution since 1889. Throughout a considerable portion of the plains of India, from the foot of the Himalayas South to the Kistna River. On the West the limits of this species appear to be Gurgaon, Sambhar, Ajmer and Abu. Further South it has been met with at Dhulia in Khandesh and Blanford records it from Chanda, Sirancha and the Godavari Valley. Ball obtained it at Sambulpar and at various localities in Chutia Nagpore and I have seen a specimen collected somewhere in Behar.

Nidification. The nest of this bird was first taken by Cleveland at Gurgaon on the 16th of April and subsequently Mr. T. R. Bell took a good many nests during March ana April at Khandesh. The nests are extraordinary and bear no resemblance to those of Tree-Creepers of the genus Certhia. They are shallow cup-shaped affairs made of a matted mass of scraps of leaf-stalks and leaves, bits of bark and lichen bound together with spiders' webs and decorated externally with lichen, spiders' egg-bags, and caterpillar excreta. The position selected is the horizontal branch of a tree, generally at some point where a vertical twig or shoot can be used as a support to one of the sides. The nests are always placed in leafless trees on the bare branches and are practically invisible from below, so that the birds must be watched on to the nests before they can be found. Sometimes, however, the sitting hen gives away her position by answering her mate as he sits singing in the vicinity of the nest. The number of eggs seem to be nearly always two and very rarely three and these, too, are quite unlike what we should have expected. The ground-colour is a grey, or greenish-white according to Cleveland, and the markings consist of very dark brown tiny spots and specks sparsely scattered over the greater part of the egg but sometimes more numerous in an ill-defined cap or ring at the larger end. Cleveland's egg measured 17.3 x 13.4 mm. and those given me by Mr. Bell average about 16.9 x 13.0 mm. The surface is smooth and fine but dull and not very hard.

Habits. This Creeper is a bird of the plains, being found in small flocks in winter and in pairs as soon as the breeding season commences. Davidson found it not uncommon in Khandesh, common in the northern end of the Western Ghats along the Tapti River. The country here is hot and low-lying, mostly flat but containing small wooded hills. They haunt the larger trees for preference, but are also sometimes found on smaller ones and they frequent both forest and more open well-wooded country. Their actions on a tree are much the same as those of birds of the genus Certhia and they are equally active and quick in their movements. Blanford records their flight as rather swift and their call as a whistling note.

The Fauna Of British India including Ceylon and Burma 2nd Ed. Vol VII (1930)

Salpornis spilonotus rajputanae

Salpornis spilonotus rajputanae Meinertz.

Salpornis spilonotis rajputanae Meinertzhagen, Bull. B. O. C., vol. xlvi, p. 83, 1826: Sambhur, Rajputana.

The Fauna Of British India including Ceylon and Burma 2nd Ed. Vol VIII (1930)

Salpornis spilonotus rajputanae.

P. 439.

Add (456 a) Salpornis spilonotus rajputanae.

The Rajputana Spotted Grey Creeper.

Salpornis spilonotus rajputanae Meinertz., Bull. B. O. C., vol. xlvi, p. 83, 1826: Sambhur, Rajputana.

Description. Less heavily marked underneath; upper parts from crown to tail greyer; darker markings not so intense a black, and ground-colour pale hair-brown instead of dark brown " (Meinertzhagen).

Distribution. Rajputana.

The Fauna Of British India including Ceylon and Burma 2nd Ed. Vol VII (1930)

Salpornis spilonotus spilonotus

Salpornis spilonotus spilonotus Franklin.

Certhia spilonota Franklin, P. Z. S., 1830-31, p. 125, Oct. 25,. 1831: between Calcutta and Benares.

Museum Collections

Number of Museum Specimen Records Found : 10 for Salpornis spilonotus

No.	Museum	Species	Collection Deatils	Collector	Date of Collection	Record	Locality	GBIF Portal Link
1	Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University	Salpornis spilonotus	MCZ BIRDS 84323			Specimen	, [India] India Asia Southern Asia	Link
2	Yale University Peabody Museum	Salpornis spilonotus spilonotus	YPM ORN ORN.011738	S. Ali		Specimen	Chota Nagpur Bihar State India Southern Asia	Link
3	Field Museum	Salpornis spilonotus spilonotus	FMNH Birds 235674		1947-10-06 00:00:00.0	Specimen	Ramanujganj Surguja Madhya Pradesh India Southern Asia	Link
4	Field Museum	Salpornis spilonotus spilonotus	FMNH Birds 235675		1947-10-06 00:00:00.0	Specimen	Ramanujganj Surguja Madhya Pradesh India Southern Asia	Link
5	Field Museum	Salpornis spilonotus spilonotus	FMNH Birds 235677		1947-10-07 00:00:00.0	Specimen	Ramanujganj Surguja Madhya Pradesh India Southern Asia	Link
6	Field Museum	Salpornis spilonotus spilonotus	FMNH Birds 235678		1947-10-09 00:00:00.0	Specimen	Ramanujganj Surguja Madhya Pradesh India Southern Asia	Link
7	Field Museum	Salpornis spilonotus spilonotus	FMNH Birds 235676		1947-11-08 00:00:00.0	Specimen	Ramanujganj Surguja Madhya Pradesh India Southern Asia	Link
8	Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University	Salpornis spilonotus	MCZ BIRDS 278345	Ali, S.	1948-03-03 00:00:00.0	Specimen	Galkund Surat Dangs India Southern Asia	Link
9	Royal Ontario Museum	Salpornis spilonotus spilonotus	ROM Birds 125277	Baker, A J	1975-10-10 00:00:00.0	Specimen	Bhopal, Nandora Village Madhya Pradesh India Southern Asia	Link
10	Royal Ontario Museum	Salpornis spilonotus spilonotus	ROM Birds 125624	Baker, A J	1975-10-10 00:00:00.0	Specimen	Bhopal, Nandora Village Madhya Pradesh India Southern Asia	Link

Biodiversity occurrence data provided by: (Accessed through GBIF Data Portal, 2009-08-06)

Data Providers

Field Museum ( 5 Records )

Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University ( 2 Records )

Royal Ontario Museum ( 2 Records )

Yale University Peabody Museum ( 1 Records )

Sound/Call

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Links

Cite this website along with its URL as:
Anonymous. 2013 Salpornis spilonotus - Franklin, 1831 (Spotted Creeper ) in Deomurari, A.N. (Compiler), 2010. AVIS-IBIS (Avian Information System - Indian BioDiversity Information System) v. 1.0. Foundation For Ecological Security, India retrieved on 05/22/2013

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