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.

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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.

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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)

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