Black-and-White Warbler (Mniotilta varia)

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A Field Guide to Warblers of North America (The Peterson Field Guide Series). by Kimball L. Garrett, Jon L. Dunn, Cindy House (Illustrator)

Warblers of Eastern North America

Black-and-White Warbler (Mniotilta varia)

Identification: 4.5 inches from tip of bill to tip of tail.

Breeding Male: As its name implies the breeding male is black and white. The head has black and white stripes, a white stripe over the eye and a black patch behind the eye. The throat is black. The back is striped with black and white. The wings have wing wing bars. The underside is white with black stripes along the sides.

Female: The female is similar to the male, but the throat is white and the black patch behind the eye in the male is missing. The streaks on the sides are weaker than in the male.

Fall Male and Female: The fall male and female resemble the breeding female.

Immature: Similar to the female.

Similar Species: The Black-and-White Warbler is most likely to be confused with male Blackpoll Warbler. The breeding male of the Blackpoll Warbler has a solid black crown of the head and black, not white over the eye. There is no black patch behind the eye. The female and immature of the Blackpoll Warbler have a yellow-olive tinge to them and do not appear black and white.

Breeding Range (see map below): The Black-and-White Warbler occurs throughout much of the eastern two-thirds of North America from Newfoundland in the east to Alberta and the Northwest Territories in the west. The species occurs in the eastern and southern United States, but is absent from Florida and the Gulf Coast. The species is apparently also absent from much of the central-eastern United States according the Breeding Bird Survey.

Overwintering Range: American tropics, although sometimes overwintering in southern Florida and the Gulf Coast.

Habitat: Although the Black-and-White Warbler occurs in the coniferous forests of the north, it is most common in the Eastern Deciduous Forest of eastern North America. During migration it is found just about everwhere.

Food: Insects.

Behavior: The Black-and-White Warbler has a very distinctive feeding behavior foraging along the branches and trunks of tree like a nuthatch. It creeps along the trunks and larger branches, commonly with its head down, looking for insects in crevices in the bark. The song is a high pitched, weak weesy-weesy-weesy-weesy.

Reproduction: The nest is constructed of grass, leaves, and small roots lined with hair and fern hair. The nest is placed on the ground near the base of a tree or rock. The clutch consists of 4 to 5 white eggs with purple spots. Incubation time runs about 10 days and the young leave the nest about 12 days after hatching.

Notes: The Black-and-White Warbler is one of the easiest of the warblers to identify because of its black and white appearance and its nuthatch like habits. This warbler is also among the earliest of the warblers to appear in the spring.