Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

Polioptila caerulea

Order PASSERIFORMES - Family SYLVIIDAE - Subfamily Polioptilinae

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1. Cool Facts
2. Description
3. Similar Species
4. Sound
5. Range
6. Habitat
7. Food
8. Behavior
9. Reproduction
10. Conservation Status
11. Other Names

A tiny, long-tailed bird of deciduous forests and scrublands, the Blue-gray Gnatcatcher makes itself known by its soft but emphatic "spee" calls and its constant motion. By flicking its white-edged tail from side to side, the gnatcatcher may scare up hiding insects.

Cool Facts

• The Blue-gray Gnatcatcher is the northernmost-occurring species of gnatcatcher, and the only truly migratory one. Most members of its genus are resident in the Neotropics.

• The soft, rambling song of the Blue-gray Gnatcatcher usually contains some mimicked songs of other bird species.

Description

• Size: 10-11 cm (4-4 in)
• Wingspan: 16 cm (6 in)
• Weight: 5-7 g (0.18-0.25 ounces)

• Tiny bird.
• Long tail.
• Bluish gray back.
• White underside.
• White eyering.
• White outer tail feathers.
• Small, thin bill.
• No wingbars.

• Back slightly paler than crown; rump slightly paler still.
• Throat, breast, and belly white.
• Sides and undertail light gray.
• Uppertail coverts and three central pairs of tail feathers black.
• Outer tail feathers mostly white.
• Bill blackish gray.
• Eyes dark brown.
• Legs grayish black.

Sex Differences

Sexes similar, breeding male slightly darker gray and with black line from bill to behind eyes.

Male

Breeding (Alternate) Plumage: Black line meeting over the bill and extending around head above the eyes to just behind the eyes. Crown and nape washed with bluish.
Nonbreeding (Basic) Plumage: Crown and nape medium gray. Face all medium gray.

Female

Face all gray, with white eyering. Overall paler gray than male.

Immature

Similar to adult female, but wings slightly browner.

Similar Species

• Cerulean Warbler with streaking on chest and sides, two wingbars, and shorter tail, lacks eyering and white outer tail feathers.
• Kinglets with greenish, with wingbars and shorter tails.
• Black-tailed Gnatcatcher with mostly black undersides to tail feathers, duller overall. Breeding male with black cap.
• California Gnatcatcher with darker underside and nearly all black tail. Breeding male with black cap.
• Rare Black-capped Gnatcatcher female very similar, with longer bill and more tapered tail. Breeding male with extensive black cap.

Sound

Song soft, warbling, complex series of rambling jumbles. Call a thin, nasal "spee."

»listen to songs of this species

Range

Summer Range

Breeds from northern California, southwestern Wyoming, southern Minnesota, southern Ontario, and southern Maine southward to southern Mexico and El Salvador.

Winter Range

Winters from southern United States southward to Cuba and Central America.

Habitat

Breeds in variety of deciduous wooded habitats from shrubland to mature forest, especially near water.

Food

Small insects and spiders.

Behavior

Foraging

Feeds near tips of branches, constantly moving through foliage. Moves tail continuously, which may flush insects.

Reproduction

Nest Type

Open cup with high walls, made of spider webbing or caterpillar silk, covered with lichens or bark flakes. Lined with grass stems, bark strips, plant down, hair, feathers, or other fine fibers. Placed far out from trunk on tree limbs.

Egg Description

Pale blue with some small dark spots.

Clutch Size

Usually 4-5 eggs. Range: 3-6.

Condition at Hatching

Helpless.

Conservation Status

Expanded breeding range northward over last century. Common, with no significant population increases or decreases.

Other Names

Gobemoucherons Gris-bleu (French)
Perlita Común, Perlita Grisilla (Spanish)

Sources used to construct this page:

Ellison, Walter G. 1992. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (Polioptila caerulea). In The Birds of North America, No. 23 (A. Poole, P. Stettenheim, and F. Gill, Eds.). Philadelphia: The Academy of Natural Sciences; Washington, DC: The American Ornithologists' Union.