Nature » Fauna

Wallcreeper

Tichodroma muraria

Size: length 16-17 cm, wingspan 27-29 cm.

Habitat: rocky walls, preferably near streams, between 300 and 2,300 m.

What it eats: eggs, larvae, and adult insects and spiders, which it digs out from the cracks in the rock.

Reproduction: the mating season begins at mid-May and the pair chooses a cavity in the rock, deep enough for the large nest. The female builds the nest with musk, spiderwebs, and feathers, and hatches the eggs (3-4), which have been laid at the end of May.

Chicks: they are born in June and are fed by both parents every 5-10 minutes; they leave the nest after three weeks.

Curiosities: the way the wallcreeper flies surprisingly recalls a large colored butterfly.

Remarks: the wallcreeper does not belong to the same family of the woodpeckers, as demonstrated by its particular habits: it spends its time on the cliffs, hunting for food with its thin bill in the cracks of the rock, climbing with its powerful claws, and then letting itself "fall" down again.

In the Park: an intersting species, which, although not very widespread, populates many rocky habitats in the Park. During the winter it has also been observed in the valley bottoms.