Black-and-white Warbler
Black-and-white Warbler: Small, black-and-white striped warbler with a white median head stripe bordered by black. Black bill, legs and feet. It forages unlike any other warbler by moving up and down the trunks of trees and crawling under and over branches in a style similar to that of a nuthatch.
● Song:
"wee-see", "chip", "tik", "seet-seet"
● Foraging & Feeding:
Black-and-white Warbler: Feeds on caterpillars, flies, bugs, beetles, borers, spiders, and arthropod egg masses. The only North American warbler to forage regularly on bark; creeps along branches and trunks from the canopy to the ground, picking and probing with its thin bill.
● Breeding & nesting:
Black-and-white Warbler: Four to six brown flecked, white to creamy white eggs are laid in a ground nest composed of leaves, grass, and rootlets, and lined with hair and fern down. Nest is set at the base of a tree, stump, or rock. Incubation ranges from 10 to 12 days and is carried out by the female.
● Similar species:
Black-and-white Warbler: Blackpoll Warbler lacks white behind eye and does not creep along trunks and branches.
● Range & Habitat:
Black-and-white Warbler: Breeds from southern Mackenzie, northern Alberta, and central Manitoba east to Newfoundland, and south to southern U.S. east of the Rockies. Spends winters from southern parts of Gulf coast states southward. Preferred habitats include primary and secondary forests, chiefly deciduous. During migration occurs in parks, gardens, and lawn areas with trees and shrubs.