as a vagrant to the Channel Islands (where the short-toed is the resident species), Majorca and the Faroe Islands. Ecology and behaviour Breeding The Eurasian treecreeper breeds from the age of one year, nesting in tree crevices or behind bark flakes. Where present, the introduced North American giant sequoia is a favourite nesting tree, since a nest cavity can be easily hollowed out in its soft bark. Crevices in buildings or walls are sometimes used, and artificial nest boxes or flaps may be preferred in coniferous woodland. The nest has a base of twigs, pine needles, grass or bark, and a lining of finer material such as feathers, wool, moss, lichen or spider web. In Europe, the typical clutch of five–six eggs is laid between March and June, but in Japan three–five eggs are laid from May to July. The eggs are white with very fine pinkish speckles mainly at the broad end, measure and weigh of which 6% is shell. The eggs are incubated by the female alone for 13–17 days until the altricial downy chicks hatch; they are then fed by both parents, but brooded by the female alone, for a further 15–17 days to fledging. Juveniles return to the nest for a few nights after fledging. About 20% of pairs, mainly in the south and west, raise a second brood. Predators of treecreeper nests and young include the great spotted woodpecker, red squirrel, and small mustelids, and predation is about three times higher in fragmented landscapes than in solid blocks of woodland (32.4% against 12.0% in less fragmented woodlands). The predation rate increases with the amount of forest edge close to a nest site, and also the presence of nearby agricultural land, in both cases probably because of a higher degree of mustelid predation. This species is parasitised in the nest by the moorhen flea, Dasypsyllus gallinulae. The juvenile survival rate of this species is unknown, but 47.7% of adults survive each year. The typical lifespan is two years, but the maximum recorded age is eight years and ten months. Feeding The Eurasian treecreeper typically seeks invertebrate food on tree trunks, starting near the tree base and working its way up using its stiff tail feathers for support. Unlike a nuthatch, it does not come down trees head first, but flies to the base of another nearby tree. It uses its long thin bill to extract insects