Joann Merritt's Essays

A Presentation In Black & White
October, 1994

Here it is in Black & White, and “it” is a warbler, however misnamed it may be. Black & White Creeper most nearly describes the plumage and actions of this bird, although his posture and colors replicate the White-breasted Nuthatch at times. He can run rapidly straight down a tree trunk, do side-steps or nimbly travel in a zig-zag line. He could hold his own with the country line-dancers on TNN Channel 16.

Frances Williams correctly opines that there’s always something new to discover about birds. For example, I found that a Black & White Warbler isn’t always true to his colors. An immature male, such as the one who visited us, is dull black and white with buffy sides, flanks and under tail coverts. Some feathers on his face are gray while only his head is dramatically striped in jet black and white. Said warbler remained at 35l0 West County Road 113 for an extended visit, affording us many opportunities to observe these field marks.

About three feet from the tree is a platform where I keep rotten fruit to attract butterflies. Moths also come there to nectar late in the evening and on into the night, some of them hiding under the fruit to roost in the daytime. In addition to various times during the day, the Black & White Warbler always arrived at our backdoor elm tree between 6 and 7 p.m. which coincided with our dinner hour as well as with the moths’ mealtime. The warbler would zip from the tree to the butterfly feeder where he ate every moth in sight and also probed until he found those that were not in sight. He would then “freeze” until a moth flew to the fruit or just nearby, whereupon he would fly out to seize it, then return to eat his prey before assuming his frozen pose again. We counted as he consumed 10 moths in 10 minutes. Most of that time he was completely motionless while waiting patiently for moths to appear. This constitutes newly discovered warbler behavior that I have observed.

Warblers roost in places similar to their nesting sites, which for the Black & White would be on the ground at the base of a log, stump or rock. Although I didn’t find where he roosted he evidently found satisfactory accommodations as he stayed for nine days. Of course, the terms were to his advantage - all you can eat and drink with no charge.

Hoping to see fewer elm leaf beetles next spring.