White-lored Gnatcatcher
Polioptila albiloris
Tiny gray and white bird with cocked tail. Common in tropical dry forest and scrub of Pacific lowlands. Male has a black cap, solid in breeding season, but with narrow white eyebrow in non-breeding season. Female has gray cap with narrow white eyebrow year-round. Told from Blue-gray Gnatcatcher by face pattern: Blue-gray has a white eyering, not a white brow.
Identification
The white-lored gnatcatcher is 11 to 12 cm (4.3 to 4.7 in) long and weighs 6 to 9 g (0.21 to 0.32 oz). The nominate male in breeding plumage has a black cap down to the eyes and including the nape. The rest of the upperparts are bluish gray. The tail is black with white outermost feathers. The throat is white becoming pale bluish gray on the breast and flanks. The female has a dark gray cap and the eponymous white lores and supercilium. The juvenile is similar to the female but has browner upperparts. The male P. a. vanrossemi has a larger black cap and longer wings and tail than the nominate.
Taxonomy
The white-lored gnatcatcher was previously considered conspecific with the black-capped gnatcatcher (Polioptila nigriceps). The Yucatan gnatcatcher (P. albiventris) was previously a treated as a subspecies of the white-lored. The white-lored gnatcatcher has two subspecies, the nominate Polioptila albiloris albiloris and P. a. vanrossemi.
- Scientific name
- Polioptila albiloris
- Authority
- Sclater, PL & Salvin, 1860
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Polioptilidae
- Genus
- Polioptila
Range and habitat
The nominate white-lored gnatcatcher is found from central Guatemala south through Honduras, El Salvador, and Nicaragua into northwestern Costa Rica. P. a. vanrossemi is found in Mexico from the southern parts of the states of Michoacán, México, and Puebla south to most of Chiapas. It inhabits arid to semi-arid biomes including scrublands, thorn forest, deciduous woodland, and secondary forest. It shuns the interior of tall woodlands. It is mostly found below 1,000 m (3,300 ft) of elevation.
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
The white-lored gnatcatcher's diet is a variety of adult insects, caterpillars, and spiders. It forages mostly by gleaning but will make sallies to catch flying insects.<p>The white-lored gnatcatcher breeds between March and August. Both sexes build the nest, a deep cup of grass and roots held together with spider silk and lined with fine grass, hair, and other soft materials. The clutch size is four. Bronzed (Molothrus aeneus) and brown-headed cowbirds (M. ater) parasitize the nest.<p>The white-lored gnatcatcher has two songs, a "simple" [1] and a "complex" [2]. It also has a variety of calls, for which see Xeno-canto below.
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Black-bellied Thorntail
Discosura langsdorffi
Tiny, coquette-like hummingbird. Males are iridescent emerald green with a black belly, bold white rump band, short crest, and long, straight tail feathers. Females are similar, but are duller below with a shorter tail. Compared to the similar Festive Coquette, females have darker plumage. Usually found in mature rainforest, where it forages at flowering trees at all levels of the forest.
Santa Marta Warbler
Myiothlypis basilica
Handsome warbler found only at higher elevations in Colombia’s Santa Marta Mountains. The combination of yellow body and ornately patterned black and white head is unique within its limited range. Hides in dense tangles in cloud forest understory, especially in bamboo patches, and can be hard to see well. Pairs sing duets where one bird gives a rising and falling series of squeaks, and its mate adds a steady series of tic notes. Small numbers can usually be found along the road in the upper reaches of El Dorado Nature Reserve.
Slender-billed Flufftail
Sarothrura watersi
Tiny, rare, skulking rail-like bird that is unlikely to be seen unless you’re expressly looking for it at a handful of known sites. Male has rich rufous and olive-green color, while female is a subdued dark brown. Found in a few wetlands at middle and high elevations in eastern Madagascar, usually adjacent to rainforest. Call is an odd and earthy series of “tduk” calls, sometimes given singly and sometimes in triplets. Longer-billed than the much more common Madagascar Flufftail, and both sexes of Slender-billed Flufftail have duller coloration.
Start Your Bird Watching Journey
Identify a bird outdoors and keep the field guide close for your next observation.