That is an interesting thing and has been noted
before. I have referred to it in my 21 Year GBS Report (not in the 18 year
edition).
"TREECREEPERS
A family "out on their own" with which to start the order Passeriformes. They
climb up and around the branches foraging for insects, etc. such as ants. Their
forward toes are partly joined (syndactylous) (see Sibley et al. 1984), a
feature apparently unique among passerines, that could be an adaptation to their
tree-climbing lifestyle. They are reported to use bird baths, strangely
entering the water by walking backwards."
Separately, I can mention that in the 23 years that I have been doing a GBS
at my house in Kambah, I have only had one White-throated
Treecreeper attend the area. That bird arrived a day or 2 after the
18-1-2003 fires and stayed in my yard for about 2 weeks.
Philip
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