Beauty In Black & White
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Rainbows paint the sky with bright and vivid colors. Azaleas and roses brighten mornings, as they glisten with dew in the rays of the sun. Colors grab our attention and bring joy to us all. So much attention is given to the most colorful plants or animals found on the landscape. At Harmony Hill, we are even guilty of delighting in the beauty of the yellows of Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterflies, the reds of male Northern Cardinals feathers and the lavenders of Maypop flowers as we walk in nature.
However, some of the more striking and breathtaking species we’ve seen at Harmony Hill are hued much more simply. Instead of vibrant tones, they stop us dead in our tracks with just a little black and white. Without the use of iridescence or a palate of golds, scarlets, indigos and emeralds, they grab our attention and cause us to stare in awe.
As fall migration winds down and the birds of the forest settle in for the winter, we see mixed flocks flitting from tree to tree. Breeding season is over and territoriality is no longer a driving behavioral factor, allowing flocks of six or more species of birds to intermingle and forage together. In the middle of these flocks, we often see a small bird whose two simple colors make us smile as big as any multicolored parrot or macaw ever could.
The aptly named Black-and-white Warbler (Mniotilta varia) is a showstopper with its zebra-like plumage. Despite only being two-toned, it is striking in its appearance. And that simple coloration serves a terrific survival purpose!
First of all, this New World Warbler is the only member of the genus Mniotilta. We say "New World Warbler" because it is a warbler found in the New World of the Americas (North, Central and South, respectively). The genus name means "plucker of moss", in reference to the way this warbler will hitch along the trunks and limbs of trees, behaving less like a warbler and much more like a nuthatch or even a creeper. In fact, some old natural history literature refers to this bird as the “Black-and-white Creeper” and even the “Creeping Warbler”.
It will use its bill, which is clearly slightly decurved in each of the photos, to forage and glean in the bark of trees. That is in stark contrast to the way most warblers forage for insects and food items. Whereas most warblers are concerned with probing in and around leaves and foliage, as well as hawking and sallying insects in the air, our monochrome friend is busy peeking in and around tree bark and exposed wood fibers. A warbler acting like a nuthatch. Now that is cool! And that is also why it is the only member of the “moss plucker” genus!
The species name, varia, is just as descriptive as the genus name. Meaning “striped” or “variegated”, we could not think of a better species name for this gorgeous little bird. It is most definitely the zebra of the bird world.
The deep and defined black striping lets us know the bird pictured in this post is a male. The female will exhibit stripes that skew more into the greyscale and aren't quite as wonderfully defined, though she is still a beautiful sight to see! One key identifying feature to focus on for a quick and easy way of determining sex in the field with this species is the cheek. As is seen in the accompanying photos, the male Black-and-white Warbler has a black cheek. The female, on the other hand, will only have a stripe; sometimes with a light grey blush lightly brushing the cheek plumage.
Similar to the striping of a zebra, the striping of the Black-and-white Warbler isn't really meant to be a concealing type of camouflage. This understated coloration serves as more of a disruptive pattern, particularly when the bird is found sitting against the bark of many of the hardwood trees found at Harmony Hill. With the zebra, the stripes do tend to somewhat blend into the grasses of the African plains. However, the pattern on zebras confuses predators and the stripes disrupt hunting lions, cheetahs, hyenas and leopards so they cannot determine where one zebra begins and another ends. The stripes distract and disorient potential predators, causing them to find it increasingly hard to target an individual zebra to single out and attack.
While the Black-and-white Warbler may have the potential to disappear somewhat into the pattern of the bark of a tree such as a Water Oak (Quercus nigra), the striped pattern confuses potential predators who find it difficult to discern the outline of the body of the warbler. Thus, making it difficult to see where the tree ends and the bird begins and causing a hesitation in determining an angle to effectively attack. That hesitation and difficulty in targeting is all that is needed to give this small bird a slight edge over hawks and snakes.
The use of black and white disruptive patterns is something that has been adopted by humans. Disruptive black and white patterns have been used on naval vessels and airplanes to confuse enemy targeting during war. These patterns are still regularly used by automakers to "disguise" exterior lines and features of future models on test tracks, countering the efforts of competitors to spy and to combat a form of corporate espionage.
Less confusing or baffling than the disruptive plumage is the beauty of this bird found in the forests of Harmony Hill. Please enjoy the up-close and personal look at this black and white beauty, it's pattern and the absolute wonder of what can be done by nature with just two colors!