Thursday Birdblogging

I occasionally see this small bird, the black and white Warbler. It's one you really can't mistake for another bird, which is nice.

This is the only warbler species that regularly forages on tree trunks and limbs, creeping over the bark like a nuthatch. With a slightly decurved bill that is relatively longer than bills of other warbler species, the Black-and-White Warbler probes in the crevices of the bark for dormant insects and insect larvae. The legs are short and stout and the feet are large, much like a nuthatch. The toes have long claws for gripping the bark. The hallux, analogous to the big toe on a human foot but extending back on a bird’s foot, is much longer than hallux of other wood warblers.

All of these adaptations allow the Black-and-White Warbler to forage efficiently on dormant insects that other warbler species can only pick up opportunistically. Because it can take advantage of the early, dormant insect food source, the Black-and-White Warbler is one of the first warbler species to return each spring to the breeding grounds.
from http://www.main.nc.us/nas-hpc/Black%20&%20White%20Warbler.jpg