There are four species of gnatcatchers found in the United States. They are the California, Blue-gray, Black-tailed and the Black-capped. The California Gnatcatcher is found only in California and Baja California. The Black-capped Gnatcatcher can be found once in a blue moon in S.E. Arizona. The most common found in our area is the Black-tailed with the Blue-gray in second place.

Description:  The Black-tailed Gnatcatcher reaches about 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 the Blue-gray Gnatcatcher they are differentiated by the amount of black in the tail feathers.

Habitat:  They like thickets and brush mainly under 9 feet in height.

Diet:  They mainly eat small insects and some spiders. Will sometimes eat snails and insects.

Range:  The bird ranges S.W. United States down through parts of Mexico.

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 including weeds, grass, bark, 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.

Fascinating Facts:  They rarely catch insects in mid-air unlike their cousin the Blue-gray Gnatcatcher. The Black-tailed Gnatcatcher is a nonmigratory bird that lives in pairs throughout the entire year. The male and female usually forage within a few yards of each other.