I adore watching these little birds and was staggered to realise that I haven’t featured them in a post of their own. They deserve nothing less!
I saw this bird recently in the Little Desert and love the way the photograph looks as though I’ve made it sepia. I haven’t done anything with the colour, this is a full colour shot.
If you look closely you’ll notice its stunning feathers but you might also spot that its bill is slightly twisted at the end. I watched it foraging for some time and it didn’t seem hindered at all. A few years ago I read a detailed UK study on birds with bill damage, some of the damage was significant, yet they still managed to adapt and survive.
A few moments later the bird moved higher into the tree, the light was different and the background was the greens of the surrounding leaves rather than the browns of the ground.
It was so agile and strong, supporting its body-weight hanging from the side of the tree while preening.
The lighting makes a huge difference to photographs. Females have more rufous on their feathers than the males.
Despite the first four photographs showing Brown Treecreepers hanging onto the side of a tree, I generally see them foraging on the ground or on fallen trunks and branches. This species has recently been listed as Vulnerable in south-east Australia.
If anyone is following the Battle with Boral that has the potential to seriously impact the habitat for local birds and other wildlife, you might like to check A Current Affair, Channel 9, 12 March 2026. I was one of several people interviewed (mine was very brief, and the star of the show was the local primary school captain), with 400 locals turning up at short notice. ACA did a brilliant segment.
Happy birding, Kim
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