Creeping towards extinction: Conservation action for the Brown Treecreeper

Posted on 24 October, 2023 by Anna

Three of our region’s beloved Feathered Five are now listed as threatened. We have partnered with BirdLife Castlemaine District to deliver a series of blog posts describing these species, why they are threatened, and what we can do to support the conservation of these species into the future. In this blog post, we briefly summarise the conservation advice for the Brown Treecreeper (click here), the causes of its decline, and what you can do to help it. To read an insightful blog post about this species, written by naturalist and nature writer (and our wonderful former monitoring and engagement coordinator), Tanya Loos, please click here.

The Brown Treecreeper (Climacteris picumnus) is one of our Feathered Five, and also the flagship species for Birdlife Castlemaine District.

The Brown Treecreeper typically occurs in woodland dominated by stringybarks or rough-barked trees, but also occurs in a number of other wooded habitat types. They usually occur in areas with an open, grassy understory, allowing them to forage near the ground and keep an eye out for predators. They mainly eat invertebrate prey, but also eat nectar and sap, and small lizards. They can be reasonably bold and are known to pinch food from the odd picnic as described in a recent Bird of the Month blog. They forage on the ground, in fallen timber, and on trees. They are usually in pairs or small family groups, and occupy permanent territories, nesting in tree hollows and stumps.

The species is listed as Vulnerable as it has undergone a reduction in population size over the last 15 years.

Brown Treecreeper in the fading sun. Photo: Geoff Park.

Key threats include:

Habitat loss and fragmentation.
Habitat degradation caused by domestic livestock over-grazing.
Noisy miner competition.
Altered fire regimes.
Extreme events (wildfire, heatwave, and drought).
Firewood collection.
Nest hollow competition.
Overgrazing by rabbits and overabundant native species.
Predation by cats and foxes.

Some ways you can help the Brown Treecreeper:

Retain woodland habitat.
Revegetate, with a focus on expanding and connecting habitat, and ensure ground cover is patchy, and includes open areas for foraging.
Insects are an important food source so plant local, insect-attracting plants. Reduce spraying of garden pests.
Target productive areas of the landscape (such as alongside streams) and aim for riparian plantings to be at least 50m wide.
Avoid gaps of more than 100m between trees.
Prevent overgrazing, and manage grazing to maintain or improve habitat. Use low-input, fast rotational grazing with long periods of rest and short intensive grazing events.
Reduce edge habitat and plant a complex understory to deter Noisy Miners, which compete with this species.
Retain large old trees, including isolated paddock trees.
Keep it messy – retain leaf litter and woody debris, such as fallen logs. Avoid over-grazing and frequent fuel reduction burns.
Provide water for birds and consider using water sources that hang to reduce predation from cats at bird baths.
Keep cats inside – see the Safe Cat website for information on how to keep cats (and wildlife) safe.

The information above has been summarised from the Federal Government’s conservation advice (click here) and advice from Birdlife Castlemaine District.