If you see a piece of bark tumbling from a tree trunk and then defying gravity just before it hits the ground, you’ve probably found a Brown Creeper. This is an all-season bird here that’s about five inches of good camouflage. It’s difficult to spot and best observed at an angle, as shown below.
The Brown Creeper is a cruelly-named little bird that doesn’t creep. It quickly spirals up a furrowed tree trunk by hopping spritely with both long-nailed feet together. It uses its curved bill to pry insects and larvae out of crevices.
When it gets near the tree’s top, it flutters to the base of another (or the same) tree and repeats its spiraling, barberpole search. (Brooklin, Maine)