Surprisingly few videos on the Birds of the World website, but enough to show that this little chap is indeed a sprightly hopper, so ‘quite easily’ would fit, but then
again all that hops is not a Brown Treecreeper.
https://search.macaulaylibrary.org/catalog?taxonCode=brotre2&mediaType=video&sort=rating_rank_desc
From: Canberrabirds <>
On Behalf Of Philip Veerman via Canberrabirds
Sent: Monday, 4 May 2026 12:07 PM
To: 'Rose Costelloe' <>;
Subject: Re: [Canberrabirds] Hopping birds
Hello Rose,
Some birds get about on the ground by hopping, some walk, not many do both. It is easy to see both. And it might depend on how fast they are moving. Some birds
do neither and just fly to move around. Brown Treecreepers (unlike most treecreepers) do spend time on the ground. I don’t recall whether they are walkers or hoppers on the ground. I couldn’t guess what it was that you saw but what else could it have been,
going by what you saw in that book. (What book? )
This site
https://birdlife.org.au/bird-profiles/brown-treecreeper/?srsltid=AfmBOopuPPdnVcmvXv3bCsmr3T93-hKk0JfTMxlvCAgiw4oDVYcjSHCx
tells us :”Despite its name, the Brown Treecreeper does not always forage in trees. Unlike most other treecreepers, it often spends just as much time foraging on the ground in eucalypt forests and woodlands. It hops over fallen branches and other debris where
it gleans insects and other invertebrates from among the deep layers of leaf litter.
“
That wording says hops (whether that means as distinct from walks, I don’t know.
Philip
From: Canberrabirds
On Behalf Of Rose Costelloe via Canberrabirds
Sent: Monday, 4 May, 2026 11:20 AM
To:
Subject: [Canberrabirds] Hopping birds
Hi
I was sitting outside with a friend at the Arboretum recently and we watched a little bird hopping around quite easily while a magpie strutted around with it.
I looked it up in my bird book and thought it might be a Brown Treecreeper.
Has anyone seen these hopping birds too?
Thanks
Rose Costelloe
