Habitat
Forests and woodlands, especially those dominated by eucalypts, especialy stringybarks or other rough-barked eucalypts, usually with open grassy understorey, sometimes with one or more shrub layers. Not in areas with a dense woody shrub layer, or in woodland affected by dieback.
Brown Treecreeper (Climacteris picumnus) [XC36431]
by Marc Anderson from Idalia NP, Queensland, Australia (call)
Brown Treecreeper (Climacteris picumnus) [XC171921]
by Marc Anderson from Chiltern, Victoria, Australia (call)
Breeding Season (Guide)
Late June - early December.
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Nest
In a hollow limb or trunk of a dead tree, and often a hole in a fence-post or stump, comoosed of fur, hair and fine feathers, from 1 to 10 m above the ground.
Eggs (Guide)
2 or 3; pale pink, densely spotted and blotched with red-brown and underlying lavender; oval; about 23 x 18 mm. Incubation: 16 - 17 days; by female.
Young
Fledge in about 26 days, but are often forced to leave in as early as 20 days.
Subspecies intergrade. Subspecies melanotus has been considered a separate species, but specimens intermediate in colour and size between it and nominate occur.
The following 3 subspecies are recognised:
melanotus Gould, 1847 - Northern Queensland (from Cape York south to R Burdekin), in north-eastern Australia.
picumnus Temminck & Laugier, 1824 - Central and eastern Queensland (from lower R Burdekin) south to south-eastern South Australia.
victoriae Mathews, 1912 - Eastern seaboard and Great Dividing Range from south-eastern Queensland (Bunya Mts) south to coastal western Victoria (The Grampians).
Similar Species
White-throated Treecreeper (Cormobates leucophaea) which has a white throat, and lacks a white eyebrow, Black-tailed Treecreeper (Climacteris melanurus) which is much darker, plain underparts, and lacks a white eyebrow and White-browed Treecreeper (Climacteris affinis) which has more streaked ear coverts, a bolder, white eyebrow and lacks any streaks on the center upperbreast.
Compare Images
The Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Pizzey, G., and Knight, E., 1997, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 19691 5
Field Guide to Australian Birds Morecombe, M., 2000, Steve Parish Publishing Pty Ltd. ISBN 1 876282 10 X
Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Simpson, K., and Day, N., 1999, 6th Edition, Viking ISBN 0 670 87918 5
Reader's Digest Complete Book of Australian Birds 1988, 2nd Edition, Reader's Digest ISBN 0 949819 99 9
What Bird is That? 1984, Revised Edition, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 14846 5
Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds 1990 - , Oxford University Press, Melbourne ISBN 0 19 553244 9
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BirdLife International Species Factsheet