Aust birds    Bird names   News   1-26    Habitats    Key plants    Glossary    Plumage    Nests    Tips    Thumbnails    Gen. info    Sponsors    Photos for sale   
NON-PASSERINES     1    2    3    4    5    6    7    8    9    10     11     12     13     14 15     16     17     18     19     20     21     22     23     24     25     26     PASSERINES
Common names sorted alphabetically: A   B   C   D   E   F   G   H   I   J   K   L   M   N   O   P   Q   R   S   T   W   Y  

15

Black-tailed Treecreeper

(Climacteris melanurus)
Alternate name(s): "Black Tree-creeper", "Allied Treecreeper", "Chestnut-bellied Treecreeper"
Size: 17-20 cm
Weight: 27-36 g
Description     Classification     Distribution     Sightings     Photos     Breeding     Nest     Eggs     Behaviour     Food     Call/s

Physical description

Click here for a physical description

Taxonomy, classification

See Black-tailed Treecreeper at Wikipedia .

Range, habitat, finding this species

Click here for information on habitat and range

Sightings

Click here for sighting information

Photos

Race "melanurus"

ADULT

MALE

Frontal view of a male Black-tailed Treecreeper; note the black-and-white streaked throat, chin and upper chest
(photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Mary River Wilderness Retreat, NT, July 2020]

Near-frontal view of a male Black-tailed Treecreeper (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Mary River Wilderness Retreat, NT, July 2020]

Near-lateral view of a male Black-tailed Treecreeper (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Barkley Highway, 50 km NW of Mount Isa, QLD, June 2021]

Near-lateral view of a male Black-tailed Treecreeper (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Keep River NP, NT, November 2018]

Lateral view of a male Black-tailed Treecreeper; this appears to be a favourite perch - note the scratch marks
(photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Mary River Wilderness Retreat, NT, July 2020]

Lateral view of a male Black-tailed Treecreeper (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Marrakai track, NT, July 2014]

Lateral view of a male Black-tailed Treecreeper in flight (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Keep River NP, NT, November 2018]

FEMALE

Near-lateral view of a female Black-tailed Treecreeper; note the white throat patch and rufous-and-white upper chest
(photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Kakadu NP, NT, July 2020]

Near-lateral view of a female Black-tailed Treecreeper (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Marrakai track, NT, August 2013]

Lateral view of a female Black-tailed Treecreeper looking at the observer (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Mary River Wilderness Retreat, NT, July 2020]

Lateral view of a female Black-tailed Treecreeper looking at the observer (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Mary River Wilderness Retreat, NT, July 2020]

Lateral view of a female Black-tailed Treecreeper (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Mary River Wilderness Retreat, NT, July 2020]

Lateral view of a female Black-tailed Treecreeper (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Bird Billabong Road, near Arnhem Highway, NT, July 2018]

Near-dorsal view of a female Black-tailed Treecreeper (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Mary River Wilderness Retreat, NT, July 2020]

Near-dorsal view of a female Black-tailed Treecreeper (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Mary River Wilderness Retreat, NT, July 2020]

Adult female Black-tailed Treecreeper, right, approaching to feed a much darker juvenile (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Marrakai track, NT, August 2013]

Female Black-tailed Treecreeper with either food for chicks or a poo sac near its suspected nesting hollow
(photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Bird Billabong Road, near Arnhem Highway, NT, July 2018]

IMMATURE/JUVENILE

Lateral view of a juvenile Black-tailed Treecreeper (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Marrakai track, NT, August 2013]

Dorsal view of a juvenile Black-tailed Treecreeper (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Marrakai track, NT, August 2013]

Breeding information

Breeding season: Aug - Jan Eggs: 2 - 3 Incubation period: ? Fledging age: ?

Preferably young males from an earlier clutch will help a pair to build the nest, feed the incubating female and care for the young.

Nest building: Female, male & helpers Incubation: Female Dependent care: Family clan

Nest

"bungobittah", "lar", "malunna", "jindi" [bundjalung] = nest [Aboriginal]

Type: Tree hollow Material: Grass or feather lining Height above ground: ?

All species of Australian treecreepers build grass (and/or bark) nests inside tree hollows, either in tree trunks or dead limbs.

Lateral view of a male Black-tailed Treecreeper carrying food for its brood in a hollow tree trunk (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Keep River NP, NT, November 2018]

Frontal view of a female Black-tailed Treecreeper at the opening of its nest hollow (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Bird Billabong Road, near Arnhem Highway, NT, July 2018]

Near-frontal view of a female Black-tailed Treecreeper at the opening of its nest hollow (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Bird Billabong Road, near Arnhem Highway, NT, July 2018]

Eggs

"boyanga", "booyanga", "derinya", "dirandil", "koomura", "mirk", "ngampu", "nooluk", "pateena", "pum-pum" = Egg; "dirundirri" = eggs [Aboriginal]; "gawu" = eggs [gamilaraay]

Size: 25 x 20 mm Colour: White, with mid-brown speckles Shape: Tapered oval

Behaviour

This photo of a female frontal Black-tailed Treecreeper shows that treecreepers do not walk or crawl up tree trunks, but they hop (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Bird Billabong Road, near Arnhem Highway, NT, July 2018]

Food, Diet

This Black-tailed Treecreeper seemed to be interested in the flowers of a Woolibutt tree... (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Bird Billabong Road, near Arnhem Highway, NT, July 2018]

... but it turned out that it was after the lerps (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Bird Billabong Road, near Arnhem Highway, NT, July 2018]

Call(s)/Song

For this species we have recorded the following call(s)/song. The interpretation of their meaning is our own; comments and suggestions for improvement are welcome.

bltrcrp_pb_20190709.m4a melanurus
(Top End, NT)
Territorial call(?) © PB
bltrcrp_pb_20201017.m4a melanurus
(Top End, NT)
? © PB

More Black-tailed Treecreeper sound recordings are available at xeno-canto.org .

These pages are largely based on our own observations and those of our contributors. The structure of these bird pages is explained HERE. For more salient facts on any bird species please refer to a field guide.

Would you like to contribute photos or sound recordings to this site?
If interested, please CLICK HERE. Credits to contributors are given HERE.