Polioptila melanura
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
The black-tailed gnatcatcher (Polioptila melanura) is a small, insectivorous bird which ranges throughout the Sonoran and Chihuahuan Deserts of the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. It is nonmigratory and found in arid desert areas year-round.
The black-tailed gnatcatcher was described by American ornithologist George Newbold Lawrence in 1857. Meaning 'black-tailed', its specific name is derived from the Ancient Greek melano- 'black' and oura 'tail'. The black-tailed gnatcatcher reaches about 4.5 to 5 inches in length, much of it taken up by a long black tail lined with white outer feathers. The body is blue-grey, with white underparts, and while it is similar to the blue-grey gnatcatcher, the two birds are differentiated by the amount of black in the tail feathers. The male has a black cap during the summer that extends to the eyes. Females and winter males, lacking the black cap, are difficult to distinguish from the blue-grey gnatcatcher. The best way to tell the two apart is the tail; that of the blue-grey is mostly white when viewed from below, and the black-tailed is predominantly black underneath. Like other gnatcatchers, it... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Saguaro National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Big Bend National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Joshua Tree National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Death Valley National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Cumbres de Monterrey National Park | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 6 | Guadalupe Mountains National Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Black-tailed Gnatcatcher sighting in Mesa on a given day, based on 1,094 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 88th most-seen of the 268 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 40%, if each day is a fresh chance.
October to June
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Black-tailed Gnatcatcher in Mesa on a given day, against under 5% in July to September, the lowest months.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Black-tailed Gnatcatcher sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Among the best
Of the 3 cities where we can rate Black-tailed Gnatcatcher sightings, Mesa ranks 2nd at about 10%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Phoenix (United States, about 10%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Black-tailed Gnatcatcher is recorded against all the birds logged in Mesa (1,094 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
