One of my favorite moments from my trip last week to the mountains of western NC was an encounter with this Brown Creeper near the Walter Knob Overlook at Balsam Gap.
Normally these shy little guys are tough to see, let alone photograph lol! Even when viewing up close, that brown and white camo pattern of plumage allows them to disappear into the background of any forested habitat.
Making matters more difficult, Brown Creepers tend to spiral upwards along tree trunks, usually staying on the shady side of the trunk (this making for crap photo opportunities lol), and then after a minute or less on one tree, quickly fly down toward the base of another tree.
Tracking the movements of these stealthy feathered gems is difficult to say the least!

Though their numbers are particularly widespread across the state, Brown Creepers are known to breed in the higher elevations of the Appalachian mountains in western NC. They construct their nests beneath loose bark on tree trunks (the only North American bird which does this!) thus it requires mature forests of Spruce Fir (as seen in these photos) and mixed old growth deciduous areas containing trees with bark loose enough to push up underneath.
Crazy huh?

These little ones are voracious eaters of insects including larvae, beetles, flies, gnats and spiders. When winter arrives and insects become scarce, they’ll snack on nuts, seeds and fruit.
You can even attract Brown Creepers to visit your yard if you offer fruit and nut based suets at your feeding station.

Brown Creepers may be found year round in the western counties of NC throughout the year but especially at elevations of above 4,500 ft during the spring and summer.
Throughout the rest of the state these birds are mainly spotted the winter months from October through late March.
So, if you’d like to catch a look at one soon, just head to the mountains and be prepared to squint your way through the trees to achieve a Brown Creeper tic.

Photo by @sally_siko of @bestlife_birding both captured on my mighty mirrorless monster, the @canonusa #R5