page_title: White-browed treecreeper
section_title: Feeding
hierarchical_section_title: White-browed treecreeper / Ecology / Feeding
caption_attribution_description: White-browed Treecreeper
context_page_description: The White-browed Treecreeper is the smallest of the Australo-papuan Treecreepers and sole family member adapted to arid environments. The species foraging strategy involves climbing the trunks of trees in search of invertebrate prey on and under bark. Although some populations within the species range have declined, the species IUCN conservation status is of Least Concern.
context_section_description: The White-browed Treecreeper is a scansorial (tree-trunk climbing) bark-foraging specialist, feeding upon a range of invertebrates (predominantly ants) gathered from on and beneath the bark of tree trunks and branches. The climbing technique employed by the species is described as ‘inching’ by which the lower foot is lifted and brought to the level of the upper foot prior to the upper being moved higher. Such a technique differs from some other scansorial birds which lift their feet from the substrate simultaneously in a hopping or hitching fashion. Once White-browed Treecreepers reach the uppermost portions of a tree they glide down to a lower position on a nearby tree to recommence climbing. The species also frequently forages on the ground among logs and leaf litter.
  White-browed Treecreepers forage alone, in small family groups or during winter within mixed-species assemblages comprising other insectivores.
caption: White-browed Treecreeper climbing tree. Photo by Ron Knight
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