Breeding by the Black-and-White Warbler (Mniotilta varia) in Southern Mississippi

The Black-and-white Warbler (Mniotilta varia) is a common summer resident in the eastern United States, nesting south to central Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana (Lowery 1978, Imhof 1976, American Ornithologists' Union 1983). In Mississippi, nesting by the Black-and-white Warbler is rare in the southern portion of the state. There are no breeding records for coastal Mississippi (Toups and Jackson 1987) and the species is apparently absent in summer on the adjacent coastal plain. In this note we report successful breeding by the Black-and-white Warbler in DeSoto National Forest of southern Mississippi and describe the habitat used by the birds.