Black-tailed Treecreeper

Morphology

The Black-tailed Treecreeper is 16-18 cm, and is very dark relative to other treecreeper species. Males have dark upper parts, normally black to dark brown, with a black throat, streaked with white. The under parts are brown. The females have a white throat, with white streaking through a dark reddish brown upper breast. Both males and females have a distinctive white band through the wing, which is very obvious when in flight. The north west subspecies (wellsi) is slightly paler and females have more extensive streaking though the breast. The northern subspecies (melanura) has less streaking in both males and females.

Evolution

The Black-tailed Treecreeper belongs to the Family Climacteridae, which has only seven species within it. These species are all treecreepers, found in Australia and in New Guinea. The Black-tailed Treecreeper has two subspecies; a north west form (wellsi), which is restricted to the Pilbara and surrounds, and the northern subspecies (melanura), which is found in the Kimberley and Northern Territory. The subspecies have a disjunct distribution, with the large desert area between the Pilbara and Kimberley separating the subspecies. Sequencing of mitochondrial DNA has revealed that these subspecies are deeply divergent, which is strong support for their subspecies status.

Behaviour

Treecreepers are immediately recognisable through their distinctive behaviour. As insectivores, they are most commonly seen clasping vertically on the sides of trees, digging under bark with their beaks.

Method of reproduction

Sexual

Habitat

Terrestrial

The Black-tailed Treecreeper is found across the arid zone woodlands of the Pilbara, and the more monsoonal woodlands of the monsoonal tropics.

Distribution

Subspecies wellsi is found from the De Grey and Fortescue Rivers. The distribution is then disjunct, with no records from the desert region between the Pilbara and Kimberley. The subspecies melanura is found in the Kimberley (from Broome), extending its range east to the Leichhardt River in Queensland. The Black-tailed Treecreeper is not endemic to Western Australia.