BLACK BIRDS SEEN IN NORTH AMERICA

Black-and-white Warbler 

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Mniotilta Varia 

The Black-and-white Warbler is entirely black and white in all plumages, except for a creamy wash on the face and flanks of many females.

They have a white median crown stripe bordered by black on the head. Also, a white supercilium separated by a broad black lateral crown-stripe. Undertail coverts are black-spotted. They have an elongated hind toe and claws.

Breeding males have black throat and cheeks. In winter, they have a white chin.

Females and juveniles have pale cheeks. Females have diffused streaks on buffy flanks. Buffy wash particularly bright on juveniles.

BILL: thin and slightly curved.

SIZE: measures about 4.3 - 5.1 inches in length, with a wingspan of 7.1 - 8.7 inches.

WEIGHT: weighs about 8 - 15 grams.

COLOR: black, white and buff.

Insects and spiders.

BREEDS: Mature and second-growth deciduous and deciduous-conifer forests, especially in damp situations, and orchards.

WINTER: A variety of forests from high- elevation cloud forests, to lowland evergreen and deciduous forests, woodland edges, gardens, and coffee plantations.

BREEDS: Eastern North America and Canada, from north-eastern British Columbia to Newfoundland and Labrador; Maine, through New York, south to North Carolina and western South Carolina, and west to parts of Alabama and Mississippi.

WINTER: Southern Florida through the Bahamas, Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean to northern South America.

CALL: Include a sharp, hard “tik”, and a thinner, rather treecreeper-like “tseet”.

SONG: A fairly slow, very high and thin, somewhat treecreeper-like series of “wee-see” couplets, with stress on the first syllable, ending in a more complex series of notes. There is also a sharp “chip” and a high “seep-seep” in flight.

NEST: The female builds a cup-shaped nest, often on the ground at the base of a tree or fallen log, and hidden under dead leaves or branches. It is made of leaves, coarse grass, with other fine materials used for lining.

EGGS: 4 - 6 white eggs flecked with brown.

INCUBATION: 10 -12 days, female fed by the male.

NESTLING PHASE: 8 - 12 days.

Most of their foraging is by clambering along tree branches and tree trunks searching for insects. They will also occasionally fly out from a perch to catch flying insects in mid-air.

The oldest known Black-and-white Warbler was a female and at least 11 years, 3 months old.

SOURCES:
https://www.birds-of-north-america.net
https://en.wikipedia.org
https://www.allaboutbirds.org
http://www.oiseaux-birds.com
https://www.sdakotabirds.com