Brown Treecreeper

1. Broad creamy eyebrow stripe and dark eyestripe

2. Pale greyish-brown throat and upper breast with streaked belly

3. Buff wingbar visible in flight

These birds are highly social and practice cooperative breeding, usually living in groups with a breeding pair and several helpers, often male offspring from previous broods. They nest in tree hollows lined with grass and feathers. The female lays 2–3 eggs and is solely responsible for incubation, which lasts about 17 days. Chicks stay in the nest for around 26 days, and all group members help feed the young. Brown Treecreepers breed from June to January, often raising two broods per season. Their diet is mainly ants, but they also eat beetles, larvae, and other insects, foraging both on trees and the ground.

Brown Treecreepers are widespread in eastern Australia, from Cape York Peninsula in Queensland through New South Wales, Victoria, and into eastern South Australia. They prefer open forests and woodlands dominated by rough-barked eucalypts, especially areas with grassy understoreys and plenty of fallen timber or old trees with hollows. They are often seen climbing trunks, foraging on stumps, or hopping along the ground in small groups or pairs.