CLIPBOARD : BREEDING BIRD: BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER : (Polioptila caerulea)

Description: This particular gnatcatcher, which resembles a miniature mockingbird, is a small, slender bird with a long tail. Males are dark blue-gray above and white below; females gray overall with white breast and belly. The tail is black with white outer tail feathers, white tail feathers below. Bills are slender and slightly curved. There is a distinctive narrow white eye ring. Length: 4 1/2 inches.

Habitat: A habitat generalist, found in swamp, scrub, deciduous forest, chaparral and bluff tops.

Diet: Flying insects and some spiders.

Displays: None documented.

Nest: Usually built in fork of tree, constructed with plant down and thin materials then held together with spider and insect silk. Nest is lined with fine materials. Outside is covered with small pieces of lichens.

Eggs: Bluish-white and speckled with browns, occasionally wreathed. Length: 0.6 inches.

Call: Thin, pwee or chee. Song is a series of wheezy melodious warbles.

Notes: An active and conspicuous bird, look for the blue-gray gnatcatcher’s distinctive black and white tail, which is cocked like a wren’s and flipped about.

Note: Map is divided into 5-kilometer squares so that Audubon Society volunteers can more easily survey areas on a regular basis.

Sources: Sea and Sage Audubon Society; “The Birder’s Handbook,” Ehrlich, Dobkin & Wheye, Fireside Books (1988); “Field Guide to the Birds of North America,” National Geographic Society (1987); “Birds of Southern California: Status and Distribution, “ Garrett & Dunn, Los Angeles Audubon Society (1981).