Philippine creeper
genus of birds
The Philippine creepers or rhabdornises are small passerine birds and form the genus Rhabdornis. They are endemic to the Philippines. 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 name combines the Ancient Greek 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, stripe-headed rhabdornis or stripe-sided rhabdornis, Rhabdornis mystacalis
Grand rhabdornis, long-billed rhabdornis or grand rhabdornis, Rhabdornis grandis
Stripe-breasted rhabdornis, plain-headed creeper or stripe-breasted rhabdornis, Rhabdornis inornatus
Visayan rhabdornis, Rhabdornis rabori
Description
The Philippine creepers are similar in appearance to treecreepers (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 Archived 2008-10-06 at the Wayback Machine: Rhabornises. Contains photos of all 3 species.
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This entry incorporates text from “Philippine creeper” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.