White-browed Treecreeper - BirdForum Opus

Photo by Mat & Cathy
Cunnamulla, SW Queensland, Australia, May 2006

Alternative name: White-eyebrowed Treecreeper

Climacteris affinis

Identification

13.5-15cm.
Male Earth brown back, mid grey breast, striped black and white belly, dark eyes, dusky brown wings with a pale buff band across the flight feathers, white eyebrow with streaked black and white ear coverts, black bill.
The female is similar to the male but with the upper breast striped rufous and dull white, with red over the eyebrow.

Distribution

Patchily distributed and uncommon in the southern half of mainland Australia.

Taxonomy

Forms a superspecies with Red-browed Treecreeper.

Subspecies^[1]

• C. a. affinis:

• Arid southern Australia (central Western Australia to Flinders Ranges)

• C. a. superciliosus:

• Semi-arid south-eastern Australia (Flinders Ranges to western Darling basin)

Habitat

Mulga woodlands and deserts, semi-arid Mallee

Behaviour

Diet

Feeds mainly on ants but takes also spiders, beetles, moths, flies, termites and insect larvae.
Forages on trunks and branches, hops along fallen trees and among logs and litter.

Breeding

Breeding season July to late November, but timing differs from one year to another. Breeds as a pair or co-operatively in a group with up to three helpers.
The cup shaped nest is made of grass or strips of bark, lined with hair or down and placed in a deep hollow limb or trunk. Lays 1 to 3 eggs.

Movements

A sedentary species.

References

1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2015. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2015, with updates to August 2015. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
2. Del Hoyo, J, A Elliott, and D Christie, eds. 2007. Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 12: Picathartes to Tits and Chickadees. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. ISBN 978-8496553422
3. Avibase

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) White-browed Treecreeper. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 4 May 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/White-browed_Treecreeper

External Links

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