Family: Parulidae, Wood Warblers view all from this family

Description 5" (13 cm). Black and white stripes, including crown. Male has black throat; female's throat white. Creeps on tree trunks.

Habitat Primary and secondary forests, chiefly deciduous. During migration, parks, gardens, and lawn areas with trees and shrubs.

Nesting 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 set at the base of a tree, stump, or rock.

Range 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.

Voice   A thin, high-pitched, monotonous weesy-weesy-weesy-weesy, like a squeaky wheelbarrow.

Discussion 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.