# Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

*Polioptila caerulea*

They use spider silk to build their nests, allowing the structure to stretch and expand as the chicks grow larger.

- **Taxonomy:** Animalia › Chordata › Aves › Passeriformes › Polioptilidae › Polioptila
- **IUCN Red List status:** Least Concern
- **Population trend:** increasing
- **Biome:** forest
- **Habitat:** Deciduous forests, open woodlands, and humid thickets.
- **Diet:** Small insects, spiders, and insect eggs gleaned from foliage.
- **Range:** North America, Central America, Caribbean
- **Size:** 10-11 cm length, 5-7g weight
- **Lifespan:** 3-4 years
- **Active:** diurnal
- **Threats:** Habitat fragmentation and widespread pesticide use which reduces their primary food source.
- **Safe to approach?:** Harmless. These tiny birds are highly active; observe quietly with binoculars to witness their foraging. Do not disturb nesting sites. If you find a grounded bird, contact a local wildlife rehabilitator.

## About

The blue-gray gnatcatcher or blue-grey gnatcatcher ( Polioptila caerulea ) is a very small songbird, 10–13 cm (3.9–5.1 in) in length and weighing only 5–7 g (0.18–0.25 oz). Adult males are blue-gray on the upperparts with white underparts, have a 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.

## Sources

- Plate: https://gaia-dex.com/species/57fdf088-34f3-4df4-8a3d-a148ac3f123a
- iNaturalist: https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/7493
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polioptila caerulea
- Conservation status: IUCN Red List category, as recorded by Gaia-Dex
- Photo: https://inaturalist-open-data.s3.amazonaws.com/photos/1618036/medium.jpg (Gonzalo Zepeda Martínez, CC-BY-SA, via iNaturalist)

Habitat, diet, size and similar notes are AI-written summaries; check them against the linked sources before relying on them.