- Black-tailed Gnatcatcher
Taxobox
name = Black-tailed Gnatcatcher
status = LC | status_system = IUCN3.1
regnum =Animal ia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Aves
ordo =Passeriformes
familia = Polioptilidae
genus = "Polioptila "
species = "P. melanura"
binomial = "Polioptila melanura"
binomial_authority = (Lawrence, 1857)The Black-tailed Gnatcatcher ("Polioptila melanura") is a small, insectivorous bird which ranges throughout the Sonoran and
Chihuahuan Desert s of thesouthwestern United States and northernMexico . It is nonmigratory and found in ariddesert areas year-round.Taxonomy
The Black-tailed Gnatcatcher was described by American ornithologist
George Newbold Lawrence in 1857. Meaning 'black-tailed', its specific name is derived from theAncient Greek "melano-" 'black' and "oura" 'tail'.cite book | author = Liddell, Henry George and Robert Scott | year = 1980 | title =A Greek-English Lexicon (Abridged Edition) | publisher =Oxford University Press | location = United Kingdom | isbn =0-19-910207-4]Description
The Black-tailed Gnatcatcher reaches about 4.5 to 5 inches in length, much of it taken up by a long black tail lined with white outer
feathers . The body is blue-gray, with white underparts, and while it is similar to theBlue-gray Gnatcatcher , the two birds are differentiated by the amount of black in the tail feathers. The male has a black cap during the summer that extends to the eyes. Females and winter males, lacking the black cap, are difficult to distinguish from the Blue-gray Gnatcatcher. The best way to tell the two apart is the tail; that of the blue-gray is mostly white when viewed from below, and the black-tailed is predominantly black underneath. Like other gnatcatchers, it may give harsh, scolding calls while foraging for small insects and spiders in desert shrubs.cite book | last = Steven J. Phillips, Patricia Wentworth Comus (eds.) | title = A Natural History of the Sonoran Desert | publisher = University of California Press | date = 2000 | pages = 464-466 | isbn = 0-520-21980-5 ]Behaviour
Black-tailed Gnatcatchers live in pairs all year, defending their territory and foraging in trees and low shrubs for a wide variety of small insects and some spiders. Unlike the Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, the black-tailed variety rarely catches insects in midair.
Breeding
The
nest is an open-cup, built by both sexes, and is typically found in low shrubs less than five feet off the ground. It is constructed of a variety of materials includingweeds ,grass , strips ofbark ,spider webs and plant fibers. It is lined with finer, softer matter. Three to five bluish-white eggs with red-brown dots are incubated by both parents and take 14 days to hatch. The young are fed by both parents, and leave the nest 10 to 15 days after hatching. Even thoughcowbirds aften lay eggs in this species' nests, and the pair end up raising cowbird young, the Black-tailed Gnatcatcher population seems to be holding up well.References
* Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern
*ITIS|ID=179857|taxon=Polioptila melanura|year=2006|date=24 January
External links
* [http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/id/framlst/i7520id.html Black-tailed Gnatcatcher]
* [http://www.bird-friends.com/BirdPage.php?name=Black-Tailed%20Gnatcatcher Black-tailed Gnatcatcher] at birdfriends.com
* [http://vireo.acnatsci.org/search.html?Form=Search&SEARCHBY=Common&KEYWORDS=black-tailed+gnatcatcher&showwhat=images&AGE=All&SEX=All&ACT=All&Search=Search&VIEW=All&ORIENTATION=All&RESULTS=24 Black-tailed Gnatcatcher photo gallery] VIREO [http://vireo.acnatsci.org/species_image.php?species=Polioptila+melanura Photo-High Res--(Close-up)]
* [http://www.sdakotabirds.com/species_photos/black_tailed_gnatcatcher.htm Black-tailed Gnatcatcher Photos] South Dakota Birds and Birding
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