The gnatcatchers occur in North and South America . Most species of this mainly tropical and subtropical group are resident, but the Blue-gray Gnatcatcher of the USA and southern Canada migrates south in winter. They are close relatives of the wrens.
These dainty birds are intermediate between "Old World warblers" and wrens in their structure and habits, moving restlessly through the foliage seeking insects. The gnatcatchers are mainly soft bluish gray in color, and have the typical insectivore's long sharp bill. Many species have distinctive black head patterns (esp. males) and long, regularly cocked, black-and-white tails.
Genus Microbates Found in: Central and South America
Gnatwren,_Collared Microbates collaris Found: South America
The Collared Gnatwren has brown upperparts; white supercilium; black eye-line, breast-band; otherwise white underparts; long bill.
Image by: 1, 2) Neotropical_Birds_Online - Marc_Chretien, Philip Stouffer
Gnatwren,_Tawny-faced Microbates cinereiventris Found: Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Panama, western South America
The Tawny-faced Gnatwren has brown upperparts; tawny face; white throat with black stripes;; long bill.
Image by: 1) Nick_Athanas 2) Bonner_zoologische_Monographien
Genus Polioptila Found in: The Americas
Gnatcatcher,_Black-capped Polioptila nigriceps Found: North America (Arizona), Mexico
The Black-capped Gnatcatcher has blue-gray upperparts, white underparts, long thin bill. The male has a black cap.
Similar to: Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher.
Image by: 1) Jerry Oldenettel - Mexico 2, 3) Dominic Sherony - Arizona 4) Francesco_Veronesi - MexicoSimilar to: Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher.
1) Female 2, 3, 4) Male
Gnatcatcher,_Black-tailed Polioptila melanura Found: North America
The Black-tailed Gnatcatcher has blue-gray upperparts, white underparts, white eye-ring, It has a long black tail with white edges. The breeding male has a black cap, others do not.
Similar to: Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher tail mostly white when viewed from below, Black-tailed Gnatcatcher tail predominantly black underneath.
Similar to: California Gnatcatcher. They were once considered the same species. Distinguished by range: Black-tailed Gnatcatcher - Sonoran and Chihuahuan Deserts; California Gnatcatcher - coastal sage growth.
Image by: 1) Amy McAndrews - Mexico J N Stuart - Nevada
3, 5) Charlie Westerinen - Anza Borrego Park in California 4) Andy_Reago_Chrissy_McClarren Dick - ArizonaSimilar to: Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher tail mostly white when viewed from below, Black-tailed Gnatcatcher tail predominantly black underneath.
Similar to: California Gnatcatcher. They were once considered the same species. Distinguished by range: Black-tailed Gnatcatcher - Sonoran and Chihuahuan Deserts; California Gnatcatcher - coastal sage growth.
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2) Nonbreeding male 3, 4, 5) Breeding male
Gnatcatcher,_Blue-gray Polioptila caerulea Found: North America and Central America
The Blue-gray Gnatcatcher has blue-gray upperparts, white underparts, long thin bill, white eye-ring. It has a black tail with white edges. The male has a black forehead. The female is less blue than the male.
Similar to: Black-tailed Gnatcatcher. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher tail mostly white when viewed from below, Black-tailed Gnatcatcher tail predominantly black underneath.
Similar to: Bushtit. Gnatcatcher has longer bill than Bushtit. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher's back is same color as head, Bushtit's head is different color.
Image by: 1) mctheriot - Moraine Hills Park, Illinois 2) Elaine R. Wilson - Borrego Springs, California
3, 5) Dick Daniels - North Carolina 4) Dick - Arizona 6) Charlie_Westerinen - ArizonaSimilar to: Black-tailed Gnatcatcher. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher tail mostly white when viewed from below, Black-tailed Gnatcatcher tail predominantly black underneath.
Similar to: Bushtit. Gnatcatcher has longer bill than Bushtit. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher's back is same color as head, Bushtit's head is different color.
Gnatcatcher,_California Polioptila californica Found: southwest California to Baja
The California Gnatcatcher has dark gray upperparts, lighter underparts, white eye-ring, long thin black tail with white edges. The male has a black crown; female has blue-gray crown.
Similar to: Black-tailed Gnatcatcher. They were once considered the same species. Distinguished by range: Black-tailed Gnatcatcher - Sonoran and Chihuahuan Deserts; California Gnatcatcher - coastal sage growth.
Image by: 1) Chad_King 2) Billtacular 3) Peterson_Moose 4) Tony_MorrisSimilar to: Black-tailed Gnatcatcher. They were once considered the same species. Distinguished by range: Black-tailed Gnatcatcher - Sonoran and Chihuahuan Deserts; California Gnatcatcher - coastal sage growth.
Gnatcatcher,_Creamy-bellied Polioptila lactea Found: Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay
The Creamy-bellied Gnatcatcher has gray upperparts; male has black crown; blackupper- tail with white edges; white under-tail; whitish face; creamy underparts.
Image by: 1) Caco_Schwertner 2) Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Claudio_Dias_Timm
Gnatcatcher,_Cuban Polioptila lembeyei Found: Cuba
The Cuban Gnatcatcher has blue-gray upperparts, white underparts, white eye-ring, black cresent on side of head.
Image by: 1) Dominic Sherony 2) Charles_Sharp 3) Ekaterina_Chernetsova 4) Dave_Curtis
Gnatcatcher,_Guianan Polioptila guianensis Found: Brazil, Guyana, Suriname, Venezuela
The Guianan Gnatcatcher has mainly gray plumage; lighter underparts; black tail with white edges.
Image by: 1) Nick_Athanas - Brazil 2) Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Joe_Tobias in Brazil
Gnatcatcher,_Iquitos Polioptila clementsi Found: Peru
There may be only 30 of these birds alive.
Image by: 1) Winder_West
Gnatcatcher,_Masked Polioptila dumicola Found: South America
The Masked Gnatcatcher has blue-gray upperparts, light underparts, black mask, black top of tail, white bottom of tail.
Image by: 1) Hector_Bottai - Argentina 2, 3, 4)
Cláudio Timm - Brazil 5) Cristiano Crolle - Argentina 6) Gustavo_Duran - Argentina.JPG){kind=link}
1, 2) Female 3 - 6) Males
Gnatcatcher,_Slate-throated Polioptila schistaceigula Found: Colombia, Ecuador, Panama
The Slate-throated Gnatcatcher has mainly slate-gray plumage; white belly; white split eye-ring. Sexes similar.
Image by: 1) Nick_Athanas
Gnatcatcher,_Tropical Polioptila plumbea Found: central and northern South America
The Tropical Gnatcatcher has gray upperparts; whitish underpaerts; black upper-tail with white edges; whitish under-tail. Male has black cap.
Image by: 1, 3) Nick_Athanas 2) Richard_Gibbons 4) Barloventomagico
Gnatcatcher_White-lored Polioptila albiloris Found: Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua
The male White-lored Gnatcatcher has black cap, tail( white edged); rest upperparts gray; off-white underparts. Female lacks black cap; has white lores.
Image by: 1, 3) Jerry_Oldenettel 2) Nick_Athanas 4) Brendan_Ryan
1) Female 2, 3, 4) Male
Genus Ramphocaenus - 1 species
Gnatwren,_Long-billed Ramphocaenus melanurus Found: from Mexico south to Brazil and Peru
The Long-billed Gnatwren has brown upperparts; mostly black tail; long bill. Underparts vary with subspecies from dull pale to reddish-brown on the flanks and even the face.
Image by: 1) Rick_elis_simpson 2) Nick_Athanas - Brazil 3) Francesco_Veronesi - Panama
