Black-capped Gnatcatcher - BirdForum Opus

Photo by Glen Tepke
male, Madera Canyon, Santa Rita Mountains, Coronado National Forest, Arizona, USA, 19 May 2008

Polioptila nigriceps

Identification

Adults

• Blue-grey upperparts
• White underparts
• Long slender bill
• Tail: long and black apart from white outer tailbands on the uppertail
• The white undertail shows black only along a thin vertical centre line and at the very tip
  

Males have a prominent black cap.

Similar Species

This species is very similar to the California Gnatcatcher and the Black-tailed Gnatcatcher.

Distribution

Pacific slope of Mexico from Sonora to Colima; rare but regular breeder in southeastern Arizona in the United States.

Taxonomy

Subspecies^[1]

This is a polytypic species, consisting of 2 subspecies.

• P. n. restricta:

• Extreme southern Arizona to north-western Mexico (Sonora and Chihuahua))

• P. n. nigriceps:

• Arid western Mexico (northern Sinaloa to Durango, Jalisco and Colima)

Habitat

Riparian woodlands.

Behaviour

Diet

The diet includes insects.

Breeding

Four eggs are laid in a small cup nest. Nest building and care of the young is carried out by both parents.

References

1. Clements, JF. 2009. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2009. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019.
2. Wikipedia

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Black-capped Gnatcatcher. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 27 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Black-capped_Gnatcatcher

External Links

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