Wallcreeper

The butterfly of the rocks

The wallcreeper is a small bird of unmistakable appearance. Its body is an elegant ash grey, enlivened, however, by its broad, rounded wings, streaked with a bright crimson red with white spots, which are revealed in all their splendour when the bird flies with its characteristic slow, fluttering wingbeat, resembling that of a large butterfly. The males, in the breeding season, have a black throat. Its bill is long, thin and slightly curved downwards, perfect for probing the crevices of the rock.

Habitat and distribution

It lives on the high mountains of southern Eurasia, from the Pyrenees to the Alps, right to the Himalayas and the ranges of Central Asia, where it nests on steep rock walls, even at very high altitudes, above 3,000 metres in the Alps and well over 5,000 in Tibet. In winter it descends to lower altitudes, and may appear on coastal cliffs or even on the walls of old buildings and castles.

Behaviour and feeding

It is a highly skilful rock climber: it climbs the vertical walls with short bursts, helping itself with its wings, which it opens and closes continually, exploring every crevice. With its long bill it extracts insects, spiders and larvae from the cracks in the stone, and also catches prey in flight. It is a solitary, shy bird, hard to spot because of its camouflaged colour and the rugged environment in which it lives.

Curiosities and conservation

Despite its name, the wallcreeper is not a true creeper of the woodpecker kind: it is a passerine, the only representative of its family, and its way of climbing rocks only superficially recalls that of woodpeckers on trees. It is classified as a species of least concern, but its elusive nature and extreme habitat make it one of the most sought-after birds by mountain birdwatching enthusiasts.