Black-and-white Warbler

Look for

A black-and-white zebra-striped warbler that climbs tree trunks head-down like a nuthatch. Male has solid black throat; female has white throat. Bold black-and-white horizontal stripes head to tail.

The only North American warbler that routinely creeps along bark — no other warbler behaves like this.

Size: ~5.25" — small warbler.

Listen for

• Song: a high, thin, wheezy "weesa-weesa-weesa-weesa" — squeaky and faint, repeated 5–8 times. Sounds almost mechanical.

Where in Memphis

Migration only in spring and fall. They arrive mid-April (one of the earliest warblers) and can linger through early October.

• Overton Park Old Forest — a very reliable spring spot
• Meeman-Shelby, Wolf River, T.O. Fuller bottomlands
• Shelby Farms, Lichterman

Behavior

• Bark creeper. They walk up, down, around tree trunks and large branches, probing bark crevices for insects. Unique among warblers.
• Cooperates with bark behavior — they find food other warblers miss.
• Males arrive first in spring, set up territories, then females arrive.

Story

The nuthatch-warbler

Most warblers glean leaves. Black-and-whites occupy an empty niche — bark-probing, which they do like a nuthatch. Their legs are adapted (stronger, shorter) for vertical climbing. It's one of the clearest examples of evolutionary convergence in American songbirds.

The most Southern Warbler in migration

They arrive early (mid-April in Memphis) because they don't have to wait for leaves to flush out — they forage on bark, not leaves. While other warblers wait for the canopy to fill in, Black-and-whites get a head start.

The zebra warbler

Old Southern folk name. Classic high-contrast plumage — even a 4-year-old can ID this one from a Peterson field guide.

Fun facts

• They creep down tree trunks head-first — like nuthatches but unlike any other warbler.
• They winter from the Gulf Coast to South America — a broad wintering range.
• Their scientific name Mniotilta means "moss-plucker" in Greek.
• Oldest known wild Black-and-white Warbler: 11+ years.
• They're less colorful than most warblers but more interesting behaviorally.