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The 15-20 species of small passerine
Passerine

A passerine is a bird of the order Passeriformes, which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds or, less accurately, as songbirds, the passerines form one of the most diverse terrestrial vertebrate orders:...
 bird
Bird

Birds are wing, Bipedalismal, endothermic , vertebrate animals that lay egg . There are around 10,000 living species, making them the most numerous tetrapod vertebrates....
s in the gnatcatcher family occur in North
North America

North America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and almost totally in the western hemisphere....
 and South America
South America

South America is the southern continent of the Americas, situated entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere....
 (except far south and high Andean regions). Most species of this mainly tropical and subtropical group are resident, but the Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

The Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Polioptila caerulea, is a very small songbird.Adults are blue-grey on the upperparts with white underparts and have a long slender bill, long black tail and an angry black unibrow....
 of the USA
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 and southern Canada
Canada

Canada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean....
 migrates
Bird migration

Bird migration refers to the regular seasonal journeys undertaken by many species of birds. Bird movements include those made in response to changes in food availability, habitat or weather....
 south in winter. They are close relatives of the wren
Wren

The wrens are passerine birds in the mainly New World family Troglodytidae. There are about 80 species of true wrens in about 20 genus, though the name is also ascribed to other unrelated birds throughout the world....
s.

These dainty birds are intermediate between "Old World warbler
Old World warbler

The "Old World Warblers", family Sylviidae are a family of small passerine bird species; the names sylviid warblers or true warblers may be more appropriate....
s" and wren
Wren

The wrens are passerine birds in the mainly New World family Troglodytidae. There are about 80 species of true wrens in about 20 genus, though the name is also ascribed to other unrelated birds throughout the world....
s in their structure and habits, moving restlessly through the foliage seeking insects.






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The 15-20 species of small passerine
Passerine

A passerine is a bird of the order Passeriformes, which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds or, less accurately, as songbirds, the passerines form one of the most diverse terrestrial vertebrate orders:...
 bird
Bird

Birds are wing, Bipedalismal, endothermic , vertebrate animals that lay egg . There are around 10,000 living species, making them the most numerous tetrapod vertebrates....
s in the gnatcatcher family occur in North
North America

North America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and almost totally in the western hemisphere....
 and South America
South America

South America is the southern continent of the Americas, situated entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere....
 (except far south and high Andean regions). Most species of this mainly tropical and subtropical group are resident, but the Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

The Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Polioptila caerulea, is a very small songbird.Adults are blue-grey on the upperparts with white underparts and have a long slender bill, long black tail and an angry black unibrow....
 of the USA
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 and southern Canada
Canada

Canada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean....
 migrates
Bird migration

Bird migration refers to the regular seasonal journeys undertaken by many species of birds. Bird movements include those made in response to changes in food availability, habitat or weather....
 south in winter. They are close relatives of the wren
Wren

The wrens are passerine birds in the mainly New World family Troglodytidae. There are about 80 species of true wrens in about 20 genus, though the name is also ascribed to other unrelated birds throughout the world....
s.

These dainty birds are intermediate between "Old World warbler
Old World warbler

The "Old World Warblers", family Sylviidae are a family of small passerine bird species; the names sylviid warblers or true warblers may be more appropriate....
s" and wren
Wren

The wrens are passerine birds in the mainly New World family Troglodytidae. There are about 80 species of true wrens in about 20 genus, though the name is also ascribed to other unrelated birds throughout the world....
s in their structure and habits, moving restlessly through the foliage seeking insects. The gnatcatchers are mainly soft bluish grey in colour, and have the typical insectivore's long sharp bill. Many species have distinctive black head patterns (esp. males) and long, regularly cocked, black-and-white tails. The skulking gnatwrens are browner, more thickset, and with proportionally shorter tails and longer bills.

The gnatwrens typically occur in the undergrowth of dense, often humid, forest, while gnatcatchers, depending on the species involved, occur in anything from dry scrubby habitats (e.g. the California Gnatcatcher) to the canopy
Canopy (forest)

Canopy refers to the aboveground portion of a plant community or crop, formed by Crown_.Canopy is also the term for the upper layer or zone of a forest, formed by Crown_ and including other biological organisms ....
 of humid Amazonian
Amazon Rainforest

The Amazon rainforest , also known as Amazonia, or the Amazon jungle, is a Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests that covers most of the Amazon Basin of South America....
 forest (e.g. the Guianan Gnatcatcher). The North American species nest in bushes or trees, but the breeding behavior of several of the Neotropical species is essentially unknown.

A species new to science
Bird species new to science

This is the parent page for a series of pages listing bird species new to science described since 1900. Prior to the 20th century, and indeed into its early decades, the pace of discovery of new species was fast; during this period, with numerous collecting expeditions into species-rich areas not previously visited by western ornithologists,...
, the critically endangered
Critically endangered

---- Organisms with a conservation status of critically endangered have an extremely high risk of becoming extinct....
 Iquitos Gnatcatcher Polioptila clementsi, was first described in 2005. This species is a member of the Guianan Gnatcather Polioptila guianensis complex, which recently has been proposed split into three species (four w. the Iquitos Gnatcatcher), but not all authorities have accepted this (e.g. SACC). Furthermore, other groups should possibly be split, notably the Tropical Gnatcather Polioptila plumbea and Masked Gnatcather Polioptila dumicola complexes, but at present scientific papers on these matters are lacking.

  • Family Polioptilidae
    • Genus Microbates
      Microbates

      Microbates is a genus of bird in the Polioptilidae family.It contains the following species:* Tawny-faced Gnatwren * Collared Gnatwren ...
      • Collared Gnatwren
        Collared Gnatwren

        The Collared Gnatwren is a species of bird in the Polioptilidae family.It is found in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela....
        , Microbates collaris
      • Tawny-faced Gnatwren
        Tawny-faced Gnatwren

        The Tawny-faced Gnatwren is a species of bird in the Polioptilidae family.It is found in Bolivia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela....
        , Microbates cinereiventris
    • Genus Ramphocaenus
      • Long-billed Gnatwren
        Long-billed Gnatwren

        The Long-billed Gnatwren, Ramphocaenus melanurus, is a very small bird in the gnatcatcher family. It is the only member of the genus Ramphocaenus ....
        , Ramphocaenus melanurus
    • Genus Polioptila
      Polioptila

      Polioptila is a genus of bird in the Polioptilidae family.It contains the following species:* Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Polioptila caerulea...
      • Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
        Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

        The Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Polioptila caerulea, is a very small songbird.Adults are blue-grey on the upperparts with white underparts and have a long slender bill, long black tail and an angry black unibrow....
        , Polioptila caerulea
      • Cuban Gnatcatcher
        Cuban Gnatcatcher

        The Cuban Gnatcatcher is a species of bird in the Polioptilidae family, the gnatcatchers.It is Endemism to Cuba.Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dry shrubland....
        , Polioptila lembeyei
      • California Gnatcatcher
        California Gnatcatcher

        The California Gnatcatcher , is a small 10.8 cm long insectivorous bird which frequents dense coastal sage scrub growth. This species was recently split from the similar Black-tailed Gnatcatcher of the Sonoran and Chihuahuan deserts....
        , Polioptila californica
      • Black-tailed Gnatcatcher
        Black-tailed Gnatcatcher

        The Black-tailed Gnatcatcher is a small, insectivorous bird which ranges throughout the Sonoran Desert and Chihuahuan Deserts of the southwestern United States and northern Mexico....
        , Polioptila melanura
      • Black-capped Gnatcatcher
        Black-capped Gnatcatcher

        The Black-capped Gnatcatcher, Polioptila nigriceps, is a very small songbird.Adults are blue-grey on the upperparts with white underparts, with a long slender bill and a long black tail with white outer tailbands on the uppertail....
        , Polioptila nigriceps
      • White-lored Gnatcatcher
        White-lored Gnatcatcher

        The White-lored Gnatcatcher is a species of bird in the Polioptilidae family.It is found in Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, and Nicaragua....
        , Polioptila albiloris
      • Guianan Gnatcatcher
        Guianan Gnatcatcher

        The Guianan Gnatcatcher is a species of bird in the Polioptilidae family.It is found in Brazil, Colombia, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname, and Venezuela....
        , Polioptila guianensis
        • Rio Negro Gnatcatcher, Poliptila (guianensis) facilis
        • Para Gnatcatcher, Polioptila (guianensis) paraensis
      • Iquitos Gnatcatcher
        Iquitos Gnatcatcher

        The Iquitos Gnatcatcher Polioptila clementsi is a gnatcatcher described as Bird species new to science in 2005. It is currently only known from the Allpahuayo-Mishana National Reserve, west of Iquitos, Peru....
        , Polioptila clementsi
      • Tropical Gnatcatcher
        Tropical Gnatcatcher

        The Tropical Gnatcatcher is a small active insectivorous songbird, which is a resident species throughout a large part of the Neotropics. There are large geographical variations in its voice and plumage, resulting in some populations sometimes being considered separate species, notably the bilineata group as the White-browed Gna...
        , Polioptila plumbea
        • Maranon Gnatcatcher, Polioptila (plumbea) maior
        • White-browed Gnatcatcher, Polioptila (plumbea) bilineata
      • Creamy-bellied Gnatcatcher
        Creamy-bellied Gnatcatcher

        The Creamy-bellied Gnatcatcher is a species of bird in the Polioptilidae family.It is found in Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay.Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and heavily degraded former forest....
        , Polioptila lactea
      • Slate-throated Gnatcatcher
        Slate-throated Gnatcatcher

        The Slate-throated Gnatcatcher is a species of bird in the Polioptilidae family.It is found in Colombia, Ecuador, and Panama.Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests....
        , Polioptila schistaceigula
      • Masked Gnatcatcher
        Masked Gnatcatcher

        The Masked Gnatcatcher is a small active insectivorous songbird, found in northern Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia and southern and central Brazil....
        , Polioptila dumicola
        • Berlepsch's Gnatcatcher, Polioptila (dumicola) berlepschi


External links

  • on the Internet Bird Collection