Short-toed Treecreeper

Short-toed Treecreeper

Near the old city side of the Zurich Lake, a Short-toed Treecreeper, was seen flying about very silently and immediately after clasping the big trunk of the tree it started, in a jerky motion, to move and probe the bark.

Short-toed Treecreeper, Certhia brachydactyla, a small bird, is predominantly a climber. Unlike a nuthatch, Creepers never clamber head downwards. If required, they glide to the base of another tree trunk or abandon the search altogether and vanish the way they appear unannounced.

The activity, or rather the industry, of the Creepers is a strong trait; yet they have none of the vivacity and turbulence of the Titmice and Nuthatches (E. Coues).

Their diet chiefly consists of invertebrates, sometimes vegetable matter, extracted from the crevices of the bark. They are very skillfully able to extract minute objects from narrow crevices. However, owing to the curvy, slender and weak bill, the Treecreepers are not suited for chipping and chiseling the tree trunks for food as well as nesting purposes.

Treecreepers blend well with the tree, are solitary in nature and said to be unmusical, therefore, are likely to escape unnoticed. They appear to spiral away from the observer, but I have been able to be very near them, as close as one meter at times, by standing still.

Confusion species: Eurasian Treecreeper, Certhia familiaris (has a smaller bill).

Alpine Chough

Alpine Chough (Pyrrhocorax graculus) or Yellow-billed Chough (pronounced~ chuff). These were seen fearlessly exploring the tourst spots for morsels of food on Mount Pilatus, Luzern, Switzerland. This is the nominate bird.

C. Linnaeus who first described the bird in the yr 1766 in his Systema Naturae on page 158, says 'Habitat in Helvetiae alpibus'. Or 'Habitat in Swiss Alps'.

It is distributed through Europe and asia, and is found near high altitude cliffs.

Image via Wikipedia

There are other sub-species apart from the nominate (Pyrrhocorax graculus graculus) which is found in Europe.
Pyrrhocorax graculus digitatus  (W Asia)
Pyrrhocorax graculus forsythi (Himalaya)
The distiction betwen the last two is disputed.

Here's a forsythi shot near Gaumukh (~4000m) in the Uttarakhand Himalaya