Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

A Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (Polioptila caerulea) with fledglings were recently spotted around Hawk Mountain. This small, cool-gray-hued songbird does not dine heavily on gnats, unlike what their name implies. Their unique, nasally, and multi-pitched song that borrows sounds from other birds’ calls has earned them the nickname "Little Mockingbird.”

Blue-gray Gnatcatchers call much of the United States their home during the breeding season, nesting as far west as California and Nevada and as far east as New York and Massachusetts. They may spend their winters as far south as Mexico or Central America.

Photo by Bill Moses