Blue-gray gnatcatcher

It is {{convert|10|-|13|cm|in|abbr=on}} in length, 6.3 in (16 cm) in wingspan,{{Cite web|title=Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Identification, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology|url=https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Blue-gray_Gnatcatcher/id|access-date=2020-09-28|website=www.allaboutbirds.org|language=en}} and weighing only {{convert|5|-|7|g|oz|abbr=on}}. Adult males are blue-gray on the upperparts with white underparts, slender dark bill, and a long black tail edged in white. Females are less blue, while juveniles are greenish-gray. Both sexes have a white eye ring.

File:Blue-grayGnatcher-7DEC2017.jpg|alt=Blue-gray gnatcatcher|Blue-gray gnatcatcher gleaning a spider. Sacramento, California

File:Blue-gray Gnatcatcher CA.jpg|Blue-gray gnatcatcher in Arastradero Preserve in Palo Alto, California

Blue-gray gnatcatcher in PP (72343).jpg|Catching an insect in Prospect Park, Brooklyn

The blue-gray gnatcatcher's breeding habitat includes open deciduous woods and shrublands in southern Ontario, the eastern and southwestern United States, and Mexico. Though gnatcatcher species are common and increasing in number while expanding to the northeast,{{Full citation needed|date=April 2021}} it is the only one to breed in Eastern North America. They migrate to the southern United States, Mexico, northern Central America (Belize, Guatemala, and Honduras), Cuba, the Bahamas, the Turks and Caicos Islands, and the Cayman Islands.

Blue-gray gnatcatchers prefer humid areas with large leaves, woodlands, and more open sandy areas with sparse trees where they mainly eat insects, insect eggs, and spiders. The males often work to build nests, help incubate and raise the young, as well as feed the children, often thought to be a mother's role. Their nests are often built far out on a tree's branch with spider silks and lichen plants holding them together.{{cite journal |last1=González-García |first1=Fernando |title=First record of non-migratory Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (Polioptila caerulea) as a host to the Bronzed Cowbird (Molothrus aeneus) in Mexico |journal=The Wilson Journal of Ornithology |date=2020 |volume=132 |issue=3 |doi=10.1676/20-96 |s2cid=233429970 |url=https://doi.org/10.1676/20-96|url-access=subscription }} They may hover over foliage while snatching prey (gleaning), or fly to catch insects in flight (hawking). The tail is often held upright while defending territory or searching for food.{{Cite web |title=Blue-gray Gnatcatcher |url=https://www.natureweb.net/taxa/birds/bluegraygnatcatcher |access-date=2023-01-05 |website=NATURE WEB |language=en}}

The songs (and calls) are often heard on breeding grounds, (usually away from nest) and occasionally heard other times of the year. Calls: "zkreee, zkreee, zkreee", Songs: "szpree zpree spreeeeey spree spre sprzrreeeee"

Both parents build a cone-like nest on a horizontal tree branch, and share feeding the young. The incubation period is 10–15 days for both sexes, where the female lays a clutch of 4–5 eggs.{{Cite web |title=Blue-gray Gnatcatcher {{!}} State of Tennessee, Wildlife Resources Agency |url=https://www.tn.gov/twra/wildlife/birds/forest-birds/blue-gray-gnatcatcher.html#:~:text=Clutch%20Size%3A%20Usually%204%20to,eggs%20for%20about%2013%20days.}} The blue-gray gnatcatcher can raise up to two broods in a season.{{Cite web |date=2014-11-13 |title=Blue-gray Gnatcatcher |url=https://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/blue-gray-gnatcatcher |access-date=2023-01-05 |website=Audubon |language=en}}

{{Reflist|refs=

{{Cite AllAboutBirds|Blue-gray Gnatcatcher}}

{{cite book |last=Greenberg |first=Russell |year=2001 |title=Birds of North America |publisher=Sean Moore}}

{{Cite web |url=http://www.enature.com/fieldguides/detail.asp?recNum=BD0261 |title=Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Polioptila caerulea |website=eNature.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120428175124/http://www.enature.com/fieldguides/detail.asp?recnum=BD0261 |archive-date=2012-04-28 }}

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{{Commons category|Polioptila caerulea}}

{{Wikispecies|Polioptila caerulea}}

• [http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/id/framlst/i7510id.html Blue-gray gnatcatcher - Polioptila caerula] - USGS Patuxent Bird Identification InfoCenter
• {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20010227021530/http://www.bird-stamps.org/cspecies/14100400.htm Blue-grey gnatcatcher stamps]}} from Turks and Caicos at {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/19990428065259/http://www.bird-stamps.org/ bird-stamps.org]}}
• {{InternetBirdCollection|blue-grey-gnatcatcher-polioptila-caerulea|Blue-grey gnatcatcher}}
• {{VIREO|Blue-gray+gnatcatcher}}
• [https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/52/2017/04/hardy65sh.mp3 Blue-gray gnatcatcher Bird Sound] at Florida Museum of Natural History
• {{BirdLife|22711581|Polioptila caerulea}}
• {{Avibase|name=Polioptila caerulea}}
• {{IUCN_Map|22711581/94302237|Polioptila caerulea}}
• {{Xeno-canto species|Polioptila|caerulea|Blue-gray gnatcatcher}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q883006}}

blue-gray gnatcatcher

Category:Native birds of Eastern Canada

Category:Birds of the United States

Category:Birds of Central America

Category:Birds of the Caribbean

blue-gray gnatcatcher

Category:Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus