Black-and-white Warbler

Mniotilta varia

HOW TO IDENTIFY:

* Length: 4.5 inches
* Small, active, insect-eating bird
* Long thin bill
* Creeps along treetrunks and branches like a nuthatch
* White supercilium, malar streak and central crown stripe
* Black back with white streaks
* Black wings with white wing bars
* Streaked breast and flanks
* Spotted undertail coverts
* Black legs

Male:

* Black crown, cheek, and throat (throat white in Fall and Winter)
* White flanks with black streaks
* Immature male has grayish cheeks and white throat

Female:

* White throat, grayish cheeks
* Buffy flanks with black streaks

Similar species:

The Black-and-white Warbler is perhaps the easiest warbler to identify with its distinctive nuthatch-like feeding strategy and contrasting black and white plumage. The male Blackpoll Warbler is also black and white but lacks the white supercilium and doesn't creep along trunks and branches