Might be an Eastern Phoebe. Looks like it has the "Phoebe smudge" on the sides of its chest & a thin eye ring.

Whitelacey.......this is so funny! I looked out my kitchen window, and on the ground under my suet feeder was a bird that looked just like what you described. Very black head and back with white stripes on the wings, and very white chest and abdomen. Of course, just as I turned to get my camera, it flew off. I should have stayed and observed more instead! As it flew off, it had pretty obvious white wing stripes. My first inclination was a juvenile male towhee.....since we have lots of towhees around. I saw no brown. I'll keep my eye out and my camera close-by........but I immediately thought of you and wondered if, now, I will be driven crazy too. hahaha What caught my eye as it was flying up to a tree was the white on it's wings, which made me think of a red-headed woodpecker. I looked up juvenile redheaded woodpecker and some of the pics looked like it, except mostly in the pics, their heads were grayish. Oh well.....hopefully I'll see it again!

Its a duck, a green wing teal I believe. Birds have a number of predators, small and medium mammals, other birds, reptiles. Could be a hawk or owl, or a cat or fox or raccoon. Squirrels even will raid nests I believe.

No sighting, but both my brother & I in rural settings have recently (so it's resident, not migratory) heard this bird just as getting dark or dark. It's loud & goes in an increasing rate: Owwww...............owwww...........owwww.........owww........oww.......oww......oww.....oww....oww...ow..ow.ow.ow.ow.ow. Almost certain it's not any species of owl or grouse. Seems to come from near ground level.