Polioptila caerulea
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~50% in a week ~80%
The blue-gray gnatcatcher (Polioptila caerulea) is a very small gnatcatcher native to North America. It is 10–13 cm (3.9–5.1 in) in length, 6.3 in (16 cm) in wingspan, and weighing only 5–7 g (0.18–0.25 oz). Adult males are blue-gray on the upperparts with white underparts, slender dark bill, and a long black tail edged in white. Females are less blue, while juveniles are greenish-gray. Both sexes have a white eye ring.
The blue-gray gnatcatcher's breeding habitat includes open deciduous woods and shrublands in southern Ontario, the eastern and southwestern United States, and Mexico. Though gnatcatcher species are common and increasing in number while expanding to the northeast, it is the only one to breed in Eastern North America. They migrate to the southern United States, Mexico, northern Central America (Belize, Guatemala, and Honduras), Cuba, the Bahamas, the Turks and Caicos Islands, and the Cayman Islands.
Blue-gray gnatcatchers prefer humid areas with large leaves, woodlands, and more open sandy areas with sparse trees where they mainly eat insects, insect eggs, and spiders. The males often work to build... Wikipedia →
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Orlando | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Monterrey | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 3 | Miami | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | León | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 5 | Mexico City | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 6 | Guadalajara | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 7 | Puebla | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 8 | Houston | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 9 | Toluca | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 10 | Havana | 🇨🇺 Cuba |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ralph Perkins II Wildlife Center and Woods Garden | 🇺🇸 United States |
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher sighting in Washington on a given day, based on 17,009 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 36th most-seen of the 267 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 50%, and over a week to about 80%, if each day is a fresh chance.
April and May
In those months about 40% of wildlife watchers report a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher in Washington on a given day, against under 5% in October to March, the lowest months.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Blue-gray 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.
13th of 36
Of the 36 cities where we can rate Blue-gray Gnatcatcher sightings, Washington ranks 13th at about 20%. The best odds are in Orlando (United States, about 60%), Monterrey (México, about 50%) and Miami (United States, about 40%).
Same order: Passeriformes
The closest relatives of the Blue-gray Gnatcatcher that you can see in Washington (order Passeriformes, Perching Birds) are Northern Cardinal (about 90%), American Robin (about 80%) and Carolina Wren (about 80%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Blue-gray Gnatcatcher is recorded against all the birds logged in Washington (17,009 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.
