Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Polioptila caerulea
A tiny, long-tailed, thin-billed songbird. Soft blue-gray above and whitish below, with a thin white eyering. Breeding males have a black band across the forehead. Forages actively for insects, often actively twitching its long tail. Can be found singly or in pairs, sometimes with mixed flocks of other songbirds, especially during migration. Two populations: Eastern birds breed in deciduous woodlands, often near water; western birds typically breed in drier, brushier habitats. Winters from the southern U.S. to northern Central America. Compare with Black-tailed Gnatcatcher, especially the tail pattern from below: Blue-gray is mostly white, with very limited black. Also very similar to Black-capped Gnatcatcher on the wintering grounds in West Mexico; Blue-gray has a higher-pitched call.
Identification
It is 10–13 cm (3.9–5.1 in) in length, 6.3 in (16 cm) in wingspan, and weighing only 5–7 g (0.18–0.25 oz). Adult males are blue-gray on the upperparts with white underparts, slender dark bill, and a long black tail edged in white. Females are less blue, while juveniles are greenish-gray. Both sexes have a white eye ring.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Polioptila caerulea
- Authority
- (Linnaeus, 1766)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Polioptilidae
- Genus
- Polioptila
Range and habitat
The blue-gray gnatcatcher's breeding habitat includes open deciduous woods and shrublands in southern Ontario, the eastern and southwestern United States, and Mexico. Though gnatcatcher species are common and increasing in number while expanding to the northeast,[full citation needed] it is the only one to breed in Eastern North America. They migrate to the southern United States, Mexico, northern Central America (Belize, Guatemala, and Honduras), Cuba, the Bahamas, the Turks and Caicos Islands, and the Cayman Islands.
- Migration
- Complete migrants
Conservation
- Population trend
- rising
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Long-tailed Bush Warbler
Locustella caudata
A fairly small, long-tailed bird of montane forest undergrowth. Dark brown above with an orange-brown belly, a gray chest, a white throat and eyebrow, mainly in front of the eye, and a long graduated tail which it often holds cocked. Very skulking. Similar to Benguet and Philippine Bush-Warblers, but has a longer tail and deeper brown belly. Song is a sharp “tik!” followed by a ringing high-pitched buzz.
Straight-billed Earthcreeper
Ochetorhynchus ruficaudus
Perky little bird of rocky slopes and valleys in Andes, often in areas with low bushes and scrubby trees. Nests in holes in banks. Found singly or in pairs and at times curious and confiding. Runs well on ground with long rusty tail strongly cocked up. Identified by rather long, overall straight bill, whitish bib, and rusty streaking on belly. Has a longer bill than the superficially similar, but smaller canasteros.
Elfin-woods Warbler
Setophaga angelae
A medium-sized warbler of moist montane dwarf forests where it feeds actively in dense canopy foliage. It is most readily distinguished from Black-and-white Warbler by the absence of white streaking on its back and the lack of a white eyebrow. Easily separated from Blackpoll Warblers, which have a white, not black cheek. Song is a thin trill, higher pitched during first half and lower pitched during the second. Call note is a high, thin “Peet.”
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