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Home/Species/ Black-tailed Gnatcatcher

Polioptila melanura

Lawrence, 1857

Black-tailed Gnatcatcher

G5Secure Found in 17 roadless areas NatureServe Explorer →
G5SecureGlobal Rank
Least concernIUCN
Identity
Unique IDELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.101192
Element CodeABPBJ08030
Record TypeSPECIES
ClassificationSpecies
Classification StatusStandard
Name CategoryVertebrate Animal
IUCNLeast concern
Endemicoccurs (regularly, as a native taxon) in multiple nations
KingdomAnimalia
PhylumCraniata
ClassAves
OrderPasseriformes
FamilyPolioptilidae
GenusPolioptila
Other Common Names
black-tailed gnatcatcher (EN) Gobemoucheron à queue noire (FR) Perlita del Desierto (ES)
Concept Reference
American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1998. Check-list of North American birds. Seventh edition. American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C. [as modified by subsequent supplements and corrections published in The Auk]. Also available online: http://www.aou.org/.
Taxonomic Comments
P. californica formerly was included in this species (AOU 1989, Atwood 1988). Subspecies curtata from Isla Tiburon off Sonora is very weakly differentiated from subspecies lucida (Dunn and Garrett 1987).
Conservation Status
Review Date1996-12-03
Change Date1996-12-03
Range Extent Comments
RESIDENT from northeastern (and possibly eastcentral) Baja California, southeastern California (north to southern Inyo County), southern Nevada, western and central Arizona, southern (rarely central) New Mexico, and western and southern Texas (Rio Grande Valley) south to southern Sonora (including Isla Tiburon), southern Durango, Jalisco, Guanajato, San Luis, Potosi, and Tamaulipas (AOU 1989). See Dunn and Garrett (1987) for distribution of subspecies.
Ecology & Habitat

Diagnostic Characteristics

See Dunn and Garrett (1987) for detailed treatment of field identification of this and other North American gnatcatchers.

Habitat

Tall vegetation in washes, also desert brush and scrub (AOU 1989). Communal roosting in verdin nest has been observed in December. Subspecies LUCIDA: catclaw acacia-smoketree vegetation of desert washes, mesquite brushlands (Biosystems Analysis 1989). Nests in bushes, 60-90 cm above ground (Terres 1980).

Ecology

In riparian habitat along the lower Colorado River, territories varied from 1.01 to 1.78 hectares (Laudenslayer 1981).

Reproduction

Both sexes incubate 4, sometimes 3-5, eggs for about 14-15 days (Terres 1980). Young leave nest when about 9-10 days old. Double-brooded.
Terrestrial Habitats
Shrubland/chaparralDesert
Palustrine Habitats
Riparian
Other Nations (1)
United StatesN5
ProvinceRankNative
NevadaS3Yes
New MexicoS4Yes
UtahS2Yes
ArizonaS5Yes
TexasS4BYes
CaliforniaS3Yes
Roadless Areas (17)
Arizona (13)
AreaForestAcres
Black CrossTonto National Forest5,966
BoulderTonto National Forest40,359
Butterfly Roadless AreaCoronado National Forest42,296
Catalina St. Pk. Roadless AreaCoronado National Forest951
Cdo WsaCoronado National Forest1,955
ChiricahuaCoronado National Forest76,876
GoldfieldTonto National Forest15,257
Middle Romero WSRCoronado National Forest60
Oracle RoadlessCoronado National Forest22,365
PinalenoCoronado National Forest130,920
TumacacoriCoronado National Forest44,594
Upper Romero WsrCoronado National Forest150
WhetstoneCoronado National Forest20,728
Nevada (1)
AreaForestAcres
Table Mtn. - EastHumboldt-Toiyabe National Forest87,789
New Mexico (2)
AreaForestAcres
Little Dog And Pup CanyonsLincoln National Forest25,412
Peloncillo (NM)Coronado National Forest43,339
Utah (1)
AreaForestAcres
FishhookDixie National Forest12,959
References (22)
  1. American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1983. Check-list of North American Birds, 6th edition. Allen Press, Inc., Lawrence, Kansas. 877 pp.
  2. American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1989. Thirty-seventh supplement to the American Ornithologists' Union Checklist of North American birds. Auk 106:532-538.
  3. American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1998. Check-list of North American birds. Seventh edition. American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C. [as modified by subsequent supplements and corrections published in <i>The Auk</i>]. Also available online: http://www.aou.org/.
  4. Atwood, J. L. 1988. Speciation and geographic variation in black-tailed gnatcatchers. Ornithol. Monogr. No. 42. v + 74 pp.
  5. Balda, R. P., and G. C. Bateman. 1971. Flocking and annual cycle of the piñon jay, <i>Gymnorhinus cyanocephalus</i>. Condor 73:287-302.
  6. Biosystems Analysis, Inc. 1989. Endangered Species Alert Program Manual: Species Accounts and Procedures. Southern California Edison Environmental Affairs Division.
  7. BirdLife International. 2004b. Threatened birds of the world 2004. CD ROM. BirdLife International, Cambridge, UK.
  8. Dunn, J. L., and K. L. Garrett. 1987. The identification of North American gnatcatchers. Birding 19(1):17-29.
  9. Harrison, C. 1978. A Field Guide to the Nests, Eggs and Nestlings of North American Birds. Collins, Cleveland, Ohio.
  10. Horn, H. S. 1968. The adaptive significance of colonial nesting in the Brewer's Blackbird. Ecology 49:682-694.
  11. Howell, S. N. G., and S. Webb. 1995. A guide to the birds of Mexico and northern Central America. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK.
  12. Laudenslayer, W. F., Jr. 1981. Habitat utilization by birds of three desert riparian communities. Ph.D. Thesis, Arizona State University, Tempe. 148pp.
  13. Ligon, J. D. 1971. Late summer-autumnal breeding of the piñon jay in New Mexico. Condor 73:147-153.
  14. Moore, W. S., and R. A. Dolbeer. 1989. The use of banding recovery data to estimate dispersal rates and gene flow in avian species: case studies in the Red-winged Blackbird and Common Grackle. Condor 91:242-253.
  15. National Geographic Society (NGS). 1983. Field guide to the birds of North America. National Geographic Society, Washington, DC.
  16. Parker III, T. A., D. F. Stotz, and J. W. Fitzpatrick. 1996. Ecological and distributional databases for neotropical birds. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
  17. Sibley, D. A. 2000a. The Sibley guide to birds. Alfred A. Knopf, New York.
  18. Tarvin, K. A., and G. E. Woolfenden. 1999. Blue Jay (<i>Cyanocitta cristata</i>). No. 469 IN A. Poole and F. Gill, editors. The birds of North America. The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA. 32pp.
  19. Terres, J. K. 1980. The Audubon Society encyclopedia of North American birds. Alfred A. Knopf, New York.
  20. Thompson, F. R., III. 1994. Temporal and spatial patterns of breeding brown-headed cowbirds in the midwestern United States. Auk 111:979-990.
  21. Williams, L. 1952b. Breeding behavior of the Brewer blackbird. Condor 54:3-47.
  22. Willson, M. F. 1966. Breeding ecology of the Yellow-headed Blackbird. Ecological Monographs 36:51-77.