Slate-throated gnatcatcher
{{Short description|Species of bird}}
{{Use American English|date=May 2021}}
{{Speciesbox
| name = Slate-throated gnatcatcher
| image = Polioptila schistaceigula - Slate-throated Gnatcatcher - male (cropped).jpg
| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| genus = Polioptila
| species = schistaceigula
| authority = Hartert, 1898
| synonyms =
| range_map = Polioptila schistaceigula map.svg
}}
The slate-throated gnatcatcher (Polioptila schistaceigula) is a species of bird in the family Polioptilidae. It is found in Colombia, Ecuador, and Panama.{{cite web |url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/ |title=IOC World Bird List (v 11.1) |last1=Gill |first1= F. |last2=Donsker|first2=D.|last3=Rasmussen |first3=P. |date=January 2021 |access-date=January 14, 2021 }}
Taxonomy and systematics
The slate-throated gnatcatcher is monotypic. It is apparently sister the Guianan gnatcatcher (Polioptila guaianensis) group and at one time it was suggested that they were conspecific.Atwood, J. L. and S. B. Lerman (2020). Slate-throated Gnatcatcher (Polioptila schistaceigula), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.sltgna1.01 retrieved May 29, 2021Remsen, J. V., Jr., J. I. Areta, E. Bonaccorso, S. Claramunt, A. Jaramillo, D. F. Lane, J. F. Pacheco, M. B. Robbins, F. G. Stiles, and K. J. Zimmer. Version 23 May 2021. A classification of the bird species of South America. American Ornithological Society. https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCBaseline.htm retrieved May 24, 2021
Description
The slate-throated gnatcatcher is {{convert|10|to|11|cm|in|abbr=on}} long and weighs approximately {{convert|6|g|oz|abbr=on}}. Its crown, the sides of the head, and the upperparts are slate gray, darker on the back. Its cheeks are whitish, its throat and breast sooty, and its belly and flanks white. Its tail is mostly black with some white on the outermost feathers. The sexes are alike.
Distribution and habitat
The slate-throated gnatcatcher is found from central and eastern Panama south through western Colombia into northwestern Ecuador. It inhabits humid primary forest, mature secondary forest, and their borders. In elevation it mostly ranges up to {{convert|750|m|ft|abbr=on}}.
Behavior
=Feeding=
The slate-throated gnatcatcher's diet is poorly known, but it is probably small arthropods like those of other Polioptila gnatcatchers. To feed it actively moves through the canopy and sub-canopy, and lower at the forest edges. It follows mixed-species foraging flocks singly or in pairs.
=Breeding=
No information has been published about the slate-throated gnatcatcher's breeding phenology.