It is a small passerine bird with predominantly brown and white plumage and measuring some 15 cm (6 in) long on average.

[6] Some guidebooks have the binomial name written as Cormobates leucophaeus, however a review in 2001 rules that the genus name was feminine, hence leucophaea is the correct specific name.

[7] The Papuan treecreeper (Cormobates placens) was previously considered a subspecies but is now recognized as a separate species, although molecular studies have yet to be done on the two taxa.

[13] A 2007 study in the Australian Capital Territory showed the white-throated treecreeper preferred foraging on the rough-barked eucalypt, the red stringybark (Eucalyptus macrorhyncha), rather than the smooth barked species, the inland scribbly gum (Eucalyptus rossii).

[15] A female was observed feeding on white punk (Laetiporus portentosus), a bracket fungus.

The cup-shaped nest is composed of fur, hair, feathers, and moss in a hollow in a tree 4–5 m (13–16 ft) above the ground.