Australian Woodland Birds - Feeding behaviour of Varied Sittellas in the Capertee Valley

This video shows the relationship between Varied Sittellas (Daphoenositta chrysoptera), Australian gum trees (tribe Eucalypteae) and their resident insects and spiders. The footage of foraging sittellas was collected in May 2025 in the Capertee Valley (NSW, Australia). The filming site was a covenanted property with open forest, woodland and revegetated areas (trees planted 1995 - 2013). This land and the valley generally greatly contribute to the conservation of woodland birds, many of which are declining, threatened or endangered. Varied Sittellas are found in eucalypt forests and woodland across much of mainland Australia. In NSW, however, their conservation status is listed as Vulnerable as their population size has apparently declined over the last several decades. These sedentary birds are highly dependent on treed areas and therefore cleared land can be a barrier to their movement. Habitat can also be degraded by small-scale clearing for roads, verges and fence-lines, and removal of standing or fallen timber. Degraded or remnant woodland can lead to Noisy Miner dominance, which has an adverse effect on Varied Sittellas. Varied Sittellas are arboreal insectivores who forage in groups through stands of gum trees, moving from the outer branches to the base of the trunk, often in a spiralling fashion whereby they sometimes hang upside down with their large strong feet. They rarely forage on the ground but we have seen them on decaying fallen timber and old fence posts. They prefer rough-barked trees such as stringybarks and ironbarks. At the filming site, we often observe them on Rough-barked Apple (Angophora floribunda) and Yellow Box (Eucalyptus melliodora), which offer plenty of bark crevices for their long slightly upturned bill. They also glean arthropods from peeling bark on smooth-bark species such as Slaty Box (Eucalyptus dawsonii) and Blakely’s Red Gum (Eucalyptus blakelyi), and from cracks and hollows in dead branches. In the case of the footage shown here, most of the trees visited by the sittellas were planted in the 1990s. A very tangible outcome of habitat restoration efforts! Note the presence of other birds as heard in the video. They include Mistletoebird (e.g. 0.13 mark), Spotted Pardalote, Jacky Winter, Restless Flycatcher, Pied Currawong, Willie Wagtail, Noisy Friarbird, Superb Fairywren and Little Corella. Filmed, edited and produced by Darren and Thalia Broughton. For further information visit https://threatenedspecies.bionet.nsw.gov.au/profile?id=20135 To see these adorable birds nesting in another part of the Capertee Valley, check out this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5T9C_SWRpQ from Vicki Powys.