The rufous treecreeper is a species of bird in the family Climacteridae. It is endemic to Australia.
Region
Southwest Australia
Typical Environment
Found in eucalypt forests and woodlands, especially those dominated by jarrah, marri, and wandoo with rough, flaking bark. It also uses mallee and riparian woodlands where large, old trees persist. The species can persist in fragmented agricultural landscapes if remnant woodland and dead standing trees remain. It avoids dense rainforest and extensive treeless plains, favoring open to moderately dense canopy structure.
Altitude Range
Sea level to 800 m
Climate Zone
Temperate
Ease of Keeping
Beginner friendly: 1/5
This bark-foraging specialist creeps up trunks in short hops, using stiff tail feathers for support much like a woodpecker, a group absent from Australia. It depends on mature eucalypts with rough bark and natural hollows for nesting, making it sensitive to habitat clearing. Pairs maintain territories year-round and often keep in contact with clear, whistled calls.
Temperament
social and active
Flight Pattern
short undulating flights between trees
Social Behavior
Typically seen in pairs or small family parties that defend a territory year-round. Nests are placed in natural cavities or hollows and lined with bark and plant fibers. Both adults feed the young and may reuse favored nesting sites across years.
Migratory Pattern
Resident
Song Description
Song consists of clear, piping whistles often delivered in short, repeated phrases. Contact calls are sharp and carrying, helping pairs remain in touch while foraging on separate trees.
Plumage
Upperparts brown to grey-brown with fine scalloping; underparts warm rufous to cinnamon with paler throat and subtle streaking. Tail feathers are stiff and used as a prop against bark. Overall appearance is compact with a slim, decurved bill suited to probing crevices.
Diet
Feeds mainly on insects and other arthropods, including beetles, ants, termites, spiders, and larvae. It gleans and probes along trunks and larger branches, working methodically upward in a spiral. Occasionally it forages on fallen logs and stumps where bark can be pried up.
Preferred Environment
Rough-barked eucalypts are favored because they harbor abundant hidden prey. Foraging is usually on the lower to mid-trunk and thicker limbs in open woodland or forest edges.
