Brown Treecreeper on tree.
Photo: K Vang and W Dabrowka / Bird Explorers © K Vang and W Dabrowka / Bird Explorers
Brown Treecreeper on tree.
Photo: K Vang and W Dabrowka © Bird Explorers
Brown Treecreeper.
Photo: K Vang and W Dabrowka © Bird Explorers
Brown Treecreeper. Image from: John Gould (1804-81) The birds of Australia 1840-48. 7 vols. 600 plates Artists: J. Gould and E. Gould; Lithographer: E. Gould.
Photo: Research Library © Australian Museum
Brown Treecreeper on tree.
Photo: K Vang and W Dabrowka / Bird Explorers © K Vang and W Dabrowka / Bird Explorers
Distribution map of Climacteris picumnus
Map © Birds Australia Birdata
Brown Treecreeper
Scientific name: Climacteris picumnus
Family: Climacteridae
Order: Passeriformes
What does it look like?
Description
The Brown Treecreeper is the largest of Australia's treecreepers. It is mostly pale brown in plumage. Birds of northern Queensland are darker brown. The head, throat and upper breast are pale greyish-brown, while the lower breast and belly are strongly streaked with black and buff. In flight, a buff stripe can be seen in the wing. The sexes are similar, except females have rufous edges to the feathers of the upper breast, while in the male these edges are black. Young Brown Treecreepers resemble the adults, but are duller, have less obvious stripes on the underparts and the lower belly is a pale rufous colour.
Similar species
Other treecreeper species that overlap in range with the Brown Treecreeper include the White-browed Treecreeper, Climacteris affinis, and the White-throated Treecreeper, Cormobates leucophaeus. The White-browed Treecreeper is darker grey-brown with a more distinct white stripe above the eye (edged with red-brown in the female). The eyebrow of the Brown Treecreeper is less distinct and is more buff. The smaller White-throated Treecreeper has much darker upperparts, a contrasting white throat and little or no marks above the eye.
Where does it live?
Habitat
Found in the drier open forests and woodlands, the Brown Treecreeper stays in the same area all year round.
What does it do?
Feeding
The Brown Treecreeper climbs up the trunks and branches of trees in search of food. It probes into cavities and under loose bark with its long downward curving bill. In this way it searches for insects and their larvae. The most favoured insects are ants. Some feeding also takes place on the ground on fallen logs. Sometimes, birds can be seen diving on ground-dwelling prey from a perch in a tree. Feeding normally takes place in pairs or small groups.
Breeding
The nest is a collection of grasses, feathers and other soft material, placed in a suitable tree hollow or similar site. Both sexes build the nest, but the female alone incubates the eggs. Pairs often have two broods during each breeding season. Occasionally, other birds ("helpers") assist the breeding pair with building of nest and feeding the young chicks.
References
Longmore, N.W. 1991. The Honeyeaters and their Allies of Australia. Angus and Robertson and The National Photographic Index of Australian Wildlife, Sydney.
Pizzey, G. and Knight, F. 1997. Field Guide to the Birds of Australia. Angus and Robertson, Sydney.
Schodde, R. and Tideman, S.C. (eds) 1990. Reader's Digest Complete Book of Australian Birds (2nd Edition). Reader's Digest (Australia) Pty Ltd, Sydney.