GNATCATCHER

also called Gnatwren, family name Polioptilidae, any of about 11 species of small birds of the genus Polioptila, treated by many authorities as a subfamily of the Old World warbler family Sylviidae. The blue-gray gnatcatcher (P. caerulea), 11 cm (4.5 inches) long, with its long white-edged tail, looks like a tiny mockingbird. It breeds locally from eastern Canada and California to the Bahamas and Guatemala and winters from the southern United States southward. The black-tailed gnatcatcher (P. melanura) is resident in southwestern deserts of the United States. The other species are found in Central and South America and Cuba.