Doh!  I forgot to check the Birds of North America life history accounts
with regard to color morph distribution.  Here's what it has to say
about Brown Creeper taxonomy:

GEOGRAPHIC VARIATION; SUBSPECIES

Up to 13 subspecies recognized following Webster (1986) and
incorporating changes suggested by Browning (1990) and new subspecies
recently described by Unitt and Rea (1997). Variation in plumage
coloration and size (linear measurements) is mostly clinal throughout
range (see summary of geographic variation in Webster 1986: 203).
Evaluation of dif-ferences in color complicated by polychromatism (Pyle
1997). Overlap exists among populations in wing-chord, bill, and tail
length, but wing-chord and tail length tend to be shorter in coastal,
extreme western, and Mexican populations (see Measurements: linear,
below; Webster 1986).

C. a. americana Bonaparte, 1838: Breeds from n. Saskatchewan and
Minnesota east to Newfoundland and W. Virginia; winters throughout much
of breeding range, although northern (Canadian populations) strongly
migratory; winter dispersal extends west and south to central and e.
Colorado, se. Coahuila, se. Texas, and Florida; rare fall migrant and
winter visitor to Arizona and California. Underparts white or lightly
tinted peach color, upperparts broadly streaked whitish, crown streaks
tinted buff, rump tawny, bill short. Weakly dichromatic (paler, browner
versus darker, blacker; some intermediates) in northern populations;
broad area south of Canadian populations said to lack pale morphs and
said to be intermediate toward nigrescens (below). Includes "grayer"
birds breeding on Anticosti I., Quebec ("anticostiensis").

C. a. nigrescens Burleigh, 1935: Resident or altitudinal migrant in
Great Smoky Mtns. of e. Tennessee and w. North Carolina; fall and winter
specimens exist from Texas and Kansas (others reported by Burleigh and
listed in Am. Ornithol. Union 1957 are nominate americana, according to
Webster 1986). Like nominate americana but distinctly reddish and darker
dorsally; dorsal pale streaking more brownish tinged than other
subspecies except those of Middle America and Pacific Coast; rump bright
tawny; bill short.

C. a. montana Ridgway, 1882: Breeds from w.-central British Columbia and
central Alberta east to w. South Dakota (Black Hills) southward from
eastern flank of coast ranges in British Columbia through Cascades of
Washington and central Oregon, mountains of e. Nevada, and south to s.
Arizona (Santa Catalina Mtns.) and w. Texas (Guadalupe Mtns.). Winters
at lower altitudes over much of breeding range, and to s. New Mexico, n.
Coahuila; casually west to California and east to Wisconsin and
Louisiana. Underparts white with grayish to cinnamon wash on flanks and
under tail-coverts; upperparts broadly streaked whitish; rump pale
tawny; bill long; dichromatic, ranging from dark grayish brown to dark,
cold reddish brown. Range restricted south and east of Alaska (cf. Am.
Ornithol. Union 1957; Gibson and Kessel 1997). Includes "caurina"
(w.-central British Columbia to ne. California), said to be warmer and
buffier, "idahoensis" (n. Idaho and nw. Montana), said to be redder and
shorter-billed (see Browning 1990), and "iletica" (w. Texas), said to be
smaller.

C. a. leucosticta van Rossem, 1931: Resident in mountains of s. Nevada
and w.-central Utah. Whit-est dorsally of any subspecies. Synonymized
under montana by Webster (1986) but maintained by Austin and Rea (1976)
and Browning (1990). Webster (1986) was unable to differentiate
leucosticta from pale populations of montana. Lack of birds in fresh
fall plumage has made these 2 subspecies difficult to differentiate
(Johnson 1965).

C. a. alascensis Webster, 1986: Breeds in s.-central Alaska and winters
from Idaho south to se. Arizona and sw. New Mexico and east to nw.
Arkansas. Underparts white with under tail-coverts tinged buff,
upperparts pale grayish brown (paler and grayer than montana with more
numerous white streaks). South coastal Alaska birds thought intermediate
to occidentalis by Webster (1986) but considered intergrades between
occidentalis and montana by Browning (1990).

C. a. occidentalis Ridgway, 1882: Resident along Pacific Coast from se.
Alaska south coastally to n.-central California (Marin Co.), east to
coastal slopes of Coast Range in se. Alaska and British Columbia and
western slopes of Cascades of Washington and Oregon; winters east
occasionally to s.-central British Columbia and w.-central California
and possibly south within range. Underparts white, upperparts narrowly
streaked buff, rump cinnamon, bill long.

C. a. stewarti Webster, 1986: Resident on Queen Charlotte Is. and
possibly n. Vancouver I. Underparts white with light dull-buff tinge to
flanks and under tail-coverts, upperparts rather bright rufous
(orangish) to reddish brown, bill medium-short.

C. a. zelotes Osgood, 1901: Resident east slope of Cascades from s.
Oregon south through Sierra Nevada, Warner Mtns., White Mtns. to
mountains of s. California; also inner Coast Ranges of n. California.
Winters at lower elevations in California and recorded in sw. New
Mexico. Underparts white, upperparts narrowly streaked whitish, rump
cinnamon, bill long. Upperparts dark or reddish brown but variable;
browner than montana and darker, more reddish than occidentalis.

C. a. phillipsi Unitt and Rea, 1997: Resident in outer Coast Ranges of
central California from San Francisco (inland to Diablo Range, Santa
Clara Co.) south to San Luis Obispo Co. Chin white, rest of underparts
grayish brown, crown narrowly streaked deep buff, back streaked whitish
(along shafts and at tips of feathers) and smoke gray, rump golden
cinnamon (Unitt and Rea 1997).

C. a. albescens von Berlepsch, 1888: Resident in se. Arizona and sw. New
Mexico south into nw. Mexico (ne. Nayarit, nw. Jalisco, and w.
Zacatecas). Blackest dorsally of all subspecies, with light dorsal
streaks whitest.

C. a. alticola Miller, 1895: Resident of Transvolcanic Range of central
and s. Mexico. Dark brown, less black than albescens. Light streaks
olivaceous and dark streaks browner. Three other possibly recognizable
subspecies (jaliscensis, guerrerensis, and molinensis) have been lumped
with alticola, but specimens poorly marked according to Webster (1986).

C. a. pernigra Griscom, 1935: Resident in s. Mexico from Chiapas to
Guatemala. Upperparts darkest brown of all other subspecies. Dark
streaks browner than alticola and light streaks narrower than all other
subspecies except extima. Color is clinal from orangish brown on crown
and dorsum in Chiapas southeast to a more blackish brown in s.
Guatemala.

C. a. extima Miller and Griscom, 1925: Resident in mountains of e.
Guatemala, Honduras, and nw. Nicaragua. Not as brown as pernigra, more
black with broader and whiter streaks. Blacker than alticola, with
narrower light streaks. Ventrally paler and more purely gray.


RELATED SPECIES

Formerly regarded as conspecific with Eurasian Treecreeper. Comparison
of vocalizations indicate that Brown Creeper should be treated as
separate species, with at least populations of w. North America perhaps
more closely related to Short-toed Treecreeper (Certhia brachydactyla;
Thielcke 1962, Baptista and Johnson 1982, Baptista and Krebs 2000; also
see Sounds, below).

Creepers (Certhiidae) placed as close relatives to gnatcatchers
(Polioptilinae), wrens (Troglodytidae), and nuthatches (Sittidae) based
on DNA-DNA hybrid-ization data (Sibley and Ahlquist 1990, Sheldon and
Gill 1996).



Casey Tucker
Education Specialist
Audubon At Home
Audubon Ohio
692 N. High St., Suite 303
Columbus, Ohio 43215-1585 
Phone: (614) 224-3303 ext. 15
Fax: (614) 224-3305 
[log in to unmask]
www.audubonohio.org

-----Original Message-----
From: Bill Heck [mailto:[log in to unmask]] 
Sent: Friday, November 05, 2004 1:29 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Brown Creeper

Part of the difference that I've seen is the result of the photography.
Notice how much grayer ("cooler", if you like) the browns are in Dave's
photos compared with the colors in Debra's photos.  Debra's may have
been taken under incandescent lights, which certainly would warm up the
reddish tones.

Bill Heck

David Russell wrote:

> The "normal" Brown Creepers I'm used to seeing around here are the
birds
> similar to Debra's--nice brown to reddish brown. I have enclosed a
couple
> pictures I took of a Brown Creeper banded at Black Swamp Sept 25.  It
> really struck me how frosted it looked--a very striking grey bird! The
> decurved bill,  buffy rump, and stiff tail feathers are also very
> noticeable in these pictures.
> Dave


--
Bill Heck
University Data Administrator
Miami University
513 529 5527