Black-and-white WarblerMniotilta varia
5" (13 cm). Black and white stripes, including crown. Male has black throat; female's throat white. Creeps on tree trunks and branches
A thin, high-pitched, monotonous weesy-weesy-weesy-weesy, like a squeaky wheelbarrow.
two males counter-singing
complex songs #1
complex songs #2
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Primary and secondary forests, chiefly deciduous. During migration, parks, gardens, and lawn areas with trees and shrubs.
Breeds from southern Mackenzie, northern Alberta, and central Manitoba east to Newfoundland, and south to southern United States east of Rockies. Winters from southern parts of Gulf Coast states southward.
This conspicuous warbler arrives in the North early in spring, usually by mid- to late April. It is known for its habit of creeping around tree trunks and along larger branches in search of insect food in crevices in or under the bark; hence its old name, "Black-and-white Creeper." Unlike the Brown Creeper, which only moves up a tree, this species can climb in any direction.
4 or 5 purple-spotted white eggs in a ground nest composed of leaves, grass, and rootlets, and lined with hair and fern down. Nest is found at the base of a tree, stump, or rock.