Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

Overview

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher: Small, flycatcher-like perching bird, blue-gray upperparts, white underparts, prominent white eye-ring. Wings are dark. Black tail is long and white-edged. Forages in thickets, trees and shrubs for insects, their eggs and larvae. Weak fluttering flight on shallow wing beats.

Range and Habitat

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher: Breeds from northern California, Colorado, southern Great Lakes region, southern Ontario, and New Hampshire southward. Spends winters from southern California to the Gulf coast and the Carolinas. Preferred habitats include deciduous woodlands, streamside thickets, live oaks, pinyon-juniper, and chaparral.

INTERESTING FACTS

By flicking its white-edged tail from side to side, the gnatcatcher may scare up hiding insects. They remove the wings of larger insects and beat large prey on a perch.
The Blue-gray Gnatcatcher is the northernmost occurring species of gnatcatcher, and the only truly migratory one.
Their breeding range is expanding northward, especially in eastern North America.

The Blue-gray Gnatcatcher has a very large range, extending up to 6,600,000 square kilometers. The bird can be found naturally in the Bahamas, Belize, Cuba, Guatemala, El Salvador, Canada, Mexico, the United States, Cayman Islands, Honduras, Caicos Islands, and Turks, and has been spotted in Saint Pierre and Miquelon. It resides in a number of habitats, including forests, shrublands, savannas, and artificial or terrestrial areas. The global population of the bird is estimated to be 57,000,000 and it does not currently meet the population decline criteria for the IUCN Red List. The current evaluation level of the Blue-gray Gnatcatcher is Least Concern.