Black-and-white Warbler

The Black-and-white Warbler is a distinctive wood-warbler found across deciduous and mixed forests of eastern North America, easily recognized by its bold black-and-white streaked plumage that lacks any yellow or green coloring found in most other warblers. It is also notable for its unusual foraging behavior, creeping along tree trunks and branches in a manner similar to a nuthatch, a habit reflected in its genus name.

Body feathers are boldly streaked black and white throughout, including the crown, back, and underparts, giving an overall zebra-like appearance. The crown shows a black-and-white striped pattern, and the wings display white wingbars against black flight feathers. Unlike nearly every other North American wood-warbler, there is no yellow, olive, or green in the plumage at any age, making the strongly contrasting black-and-white pattern a very reliable identification feature.

Breeding males show the boldest, blackest streaking, particularly a solid black throat, while females and nonbreeding birds have a whiter throat and slightly less contrasting streaking overall. Immatures are similar to adult females but may appear slightly buffier on the flanks. A single complete molt occurs after breeding.

This species breeds in mature deciduous and mixed forest across a broad range of eastern North America, favoring forests with abundant large trees for its trunk-foraging behavior. It winters from the Gulf Coast states of the United States through Mexico, Central America, and into northern South America.

The Black-and-white Warbler forages by creeping along tree trunks and large branches probing bark crevices for insects, a distinctly nuthatch-like or treecreeper-like behavior unusual among wood-warblers, which more typically glean from foliage. Its song is a very high, thin, repeated squeaky phrase. Nests are built on the ground at the base of trees or logs, unlike many warblers that nest higher up. It is one of the earlier-arriving wood-warblers in spring migration.