You’re sitting on the porch, coffee in hand, when something flashes in the peripheral. It’s high-contrast. Bold. A white and black striped bird just landed on the feeder or spiraled up a trunk, and suddenly your brain is cycling through every bird image you’ve ever seen. Is it a woodpecker? Some kind of weird escaped pet? Honestly, identifying birds with this specific "zebra" patterning is harder than it looks because light plays tricks on you, and nature loves a repeat aesthetic.
Most people just call them "skunk birds" or "checkerboards." But if you actually want to know what you’re looking at, you have to look past the stripes. You have to look at the behavior. Does it hitch up a tree? Does it scream like a hawk? Or is it just picking at the dirt?
The Downy vs. Hairy Dilemma (The Most Common Culprits)
If you live in North America, there is a 90% chance your white and black striped bird is a woodpecker. Specifically, the Downy Woodpecker (Dryobates pubescens). These little guys are the bread and butter of backyard birding. They have that classic "ladder back" appearance—horizontal white bars across black wings.
👉 See also: Glenwood Foods Greencastle PA: What Most People Get Wrong
But here is where it gets tricky. The Hairy Woodpecker looks almost identical.
Seriously. They are carbon copies except for size. The Downy is tiny, about the size of a sparrow, with a beak that looks like a little nub. The Hairy Woodpecker is more like a robin in size, and its beak is as long as its head. If you see one and think, "That bird looks like it could actually do some damage to that wood," it's probably a Hairy. If it looks cute and dainty? Downy. Both have that vivid white stripe running down the center of their backs, which is a dead giveaway.
The Downy is a bold little bird. It’ll come right to a suet feeder while you’re standing five feet away. The Hairy is more of a forest snob. It prefers the deep woods but will swing by for a snack if you have mature trees nearby.
The Zebra Woodpecker: Red-Bellied Misnomers
This is the one that confuses everyone. I get emails about this constantly. People say, "I found a bird with a bright red head and a white and black striped back, so it must be a Red-headed Woodpecker."
Nope.
That’s a Red-bellied Woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus). I know, the name is a lie. Their bellies have a tiny, faint wash of pinkish-red that you can barely see unless they’re pressed against a window. Their most striking feature is actually the "zebra" striping on their backs—fine, horizontal black and white lines. Unlike the Downy, which has a big white patch on the back, the Red-bellied is striped all over its topside.
They are loud. They make a churr-churr-churr sound that echoes through neighborhoods. They also have a weird habit of caching food. You might see one jamming an acorn into a crack in your siding. That’s just him saving lunch for Tuesday.
Black-and-White Warblers: The Tree-Creeping Oddballs
Not every white and black striped bird is a woodpecker. If you see something small—I mean really small—spinning around a tree limb like a tiny gymnast, you’ve probably found a Black-and-White Warbler (Mniotilta varia).
These birds are unique. While most warblers flit through leaves at the tips of branches, this one acts like a Nuthatch. It crawls along the bark. Its plumage is aggressive: bold, longitudinal stripes on the head and body. It looks like it was painted by someone who really liked pinstripe suits.
They are migratory. If you see one in a suburban backyard in Ohio in July, you’re lucky. They’re usually just passing through on their way to or from South America. They don't eat seeds. They want bugs. If you see one, it means your trees have a healthy ecosystem because that bird is vacuuming up every caterpillar and ant in the crevices of the bark.
The Nuthatches: The Upside-Down Gang
White-breasted Nuthatches aren't "striped" in the traditional sense, but from a distance, the way their blue-gray wings contrast with their stark white faces and black caps makes them look like a white and black striped bird.
The real kicker? They walk down trees head-first. Woodpeckers go up. Nuthatches go down.
It’s a gravity-defying trick that makes them easy to spot. They have a very "nasal" call—a yank-yank-yank that sounds like a tiny tin horn. They love sunflower seeds. They’ll grab one, fly to a tree, wedge the seed in the bark, and "hatch" it open with their beak. Hence the name.
The Bold Mimic: Loggerhead Shrikes
Now, if you see a white, black, and gray bird sitting on a fence line or a power wire, watch out. The Loggerhead Shrike looks like a songbird, but it’s a predator. They have a thick black "mask" across their eyes—think Zorro—and white-and-black wings that show bright flashes when they fly.
They are famously known as "butcherbirds."
Why? Because they lack the strong talons of a hawk, so they impale their prey—grasshoppers, lizards, even other birds—on thorns or barbed wire fences to hold them still while they eat. It’s gruesome. It’s also incredibly effective. If you see a grasshopper stuck on a thorn, a Shrike is nearby. They are declining in many parts of the U.S. due to habitat loss, so seeing one is actually a significant birding event.
Identifying by Region: Rose-breasted Grosbeaks and Chickadees
Geography matters.
📖 Related: Finding the Right Fit at Geneva Academy 811 Orange Camp Rd DeLand FL 32724
In the East, the male Rose-breasted Grosbeak is a stunning black and white bird with a massive triangular beak and a blood-red "handkerchief" on its chest. But when it flies, its wings show heavy white and black striping. People often miss the red chest and just see the striped wings and think they’ve found a mutant.
In the West, you have the Black-headed Grosbeak, which has similar wing patterns but a cinnamon-colored body.
And then there’s the Black-capped Chickadee. They aren't striped on the back, but their face is a masterclass in high-contrast patterns. Black cap, white cheeks, black bib. They are the friendliest birds in the woods. You can actually train them to eat out of your hand if you have enough patience and a lot of raw sunflower seeds.
Why Do They Have Stripes Anyway?
Evolution doesn't do things by accident. For a white and black striped bird, those patterns serve a very specific purpose: disruptive coloration.
Think about how light hits a tree trunk. It’s a mess of bright spots and dark shadows. A solid brown bird stands out as a silhouette. A striped bird, however, breaks up its own outline. To a hawk flying overhead, those black and white bars look like just another patch of flickering sunlight and shadow on the bark. It’s camouflaging by being loud.
It also helps with communication. When a woodpecker flashes its wings, those white bars act like signal flags to other birds. It’s a way of saying "this is my tree" without having to scream it every five seconds.
Actionable Identification Steps
If you’re staring at a bird right now and can’t figure it out, follow this checklist. Don't just look at the colors. Look at the "jizz"—a birding term for the general impression of size, shape, and movement.
- Check the Beak: Is it long and chisel-like? (Woodpecker). Is it tiny and pointed? (Warbler). Is it thick and conical? (Grosbeak).
- Watch the Movement: Does it climb up the tree? (Woodpecker). Does it climb down head-first? (Nuthatch). Does it hop on the ground? (Probably a Towhee or Junco).
- Look for the "Cap": Does it have a red patch on the back of the head? Most male woodpeckers do. Is the whole head red? (Red-headed Woodpecker).
- Observe the Tail: Woodpeckers have stiff tail feathers they use like a tripod against the tree. Songbirds have "loose" tails that they flick or wag.
To get the most out of your backyard birding, keep a pair of 8x42 binoculars by the window. Brands like Vortex or Athlon make entry-level pairs that are far better than the cheap plastic ones you find at big-box stores. Also, download the Merlin Bird ID app from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. It’s free, and you can upload a photo or a sound recording to get an instant ID.
Next time that white and black striped bird shows up, you won't be guessing. You’ll know exactly who is visiting.