Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

The Blue-gray Gnatcatcher is a small, slender, long-tailed songbird that behaves almost like a miniature flycatcher crossed with a warbler. Its upperparts are a soft blue-gray, its underparts pale grayish-white, and its most conspicuous feature is a long, narrow tail that is black above with white outer edges, flicked and fanned almost constantly as the bird forages.

Breeding males show a thin black brow line above the eye that is absent or reduced in females and winter birds. This active little bird has a thin, fine bill well suited to picking tiny insects directly off leaves and twigs, and it often draws attention by its habit of flicking its tail sideways while hopping through the outer branches of trees and shrubs.

Key Field Marks

• Slender body with a long, narrow black-and-white tail, frequently flicked and cocked
• Soft blue-gray upperparts, paler grayish-white underparts
• Thin white eye-ring
• Thin black eyebrow line present in breeding males, faint or absent otherwise
• Fine, thin dark bill

Similar Species

Kinglets are smaller, shorter-tailed, and lack the gnatcatcher's long, actively flicked tail. Gray vireos and some small flycatchers can superficially resemble gnatcatchers in color, but lack the constant tail-flicking behavior and long black-and-white tail pattern that make Blue-gray Gnatcatcher distinctive at a glance.

Habitat

This species favors open deciduous woodlands, riparian corridors, oak scrub, and woodland edges, generally avoiding dense unbroken forest interior in favor of more open or edge habitats.

Range

Blue-gray Gnatcatchers breed across most of the eastern and southern United States and the Southwest, with the range having expanded northward in recent decades. They winter along the Gulf Coast, Florida, the Southwest, Mexico, and Central America.

Migration

Most populations are medium-distance migrants, withdrawing from northern and interior breeding areas in winter, though birds in the mildest southern parts of the range may remain resident year-round.

Behavior

Blue-gray Gnatcatchers are restless and acrobatic, hopping through outer branches and foliage while constantly flicking and cocking their long tails sideways, a signature behavior that helps flush insects and aids identification.

Voice

The song is a thin, wheezy, and somewhat scratchy warble of short notes. The call is a nasal, cat-like 'speee' or 'zpee,' often the first sign of the bird's presence in the canopy.

Feeding

It gleans small insects and spiders directly from leaves and twigs, and frequently hover-gleans or makes short sallying flights to catch flying insects in midair.

Nesting & Breeding

The pair builds a compact, neat cup nest of plant fibers and spider silk camouflaged with lichen, saddled on a horizontal branch, resembling a small hummingbird nest. The female lays 3-5 pale, speckled eggs, and both parents help incubate and feed the young.