About Polioptila caerulea (Linnaeus, 1766)
This species, commonly known as the blue-gray gnatcatcher, measures 10–13 cm (3.9–5.1 in) in length, has a wingspan of 16 cm (6.3 in), and weighs just 5–7 g (0.18–0.25 oz). Adult males have blue-gray upperparts, white underparts, a slender dark bill, and a long black tail edged in white. Females have less blue coloration than males, while juveniles are greenish-gray. Both sexes have a white eye ring. The blue-gray gnatcatcher's breeding habitat consists of open deciduous woods and shrublands, located in southern Ontario, the eastern and southwestern United States, and Mexico. This is the only gnatcatcher species that breeds in Eastern North America; the species as a whole is common, increasing in population, and expanding its range to the northeast. During migration, blue-gray gnatcatchers travel to wintering grounds in the southern United States, Mexico, northern Central America (Belize, Guatemala, and Honduras), Cuba, the Bahamas, the Turks and Caicos Islands, and the Cayman Islands.
