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Four North American Gnatcatchers
These little birds are always on the move.
© Dave Wendelken
Gnatcatchers are tiny, black and gray songbirds native to the Americas. Though they don’t typically catch gnats on the wing, gnatcatchers are often found moving rapidly through the high canopy as they glean insects from leaves. There are four species found in the U.S. and Canada: Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, Black-tailed Gnatcatchers, Black-capped Gnatcatchers, and California Gnatcatchers. It takes time and effort to find them all, but these charismatic birds are worth the journey.
BirdNote®
Four North American Gnatcatchers
Written by Ariana Remmel
This is BirdNote.
Blue-gray Gnatcatchers are common summer residents across much of the U.S. and Mexico. The tiny songbirds make a scolding call as they forage in the forest canopy.
[Blue-gray Gnatcatcher]
Ironically, they don’t typically catch gnats in flight. Instead, gnatcatchers glean insects from leaves, often startling prey by flicking their dark tails to reveal bright white edges. There are more than a dozen species of gnatcatchers native to the Americas. Though the Blue-gray Gnatcatchers are the most widespread, 3 others can also be found in the U.S.
[Black-tailed Gnatcatcher]
These Black-tailed Gnatcatchers dwell in the Desert Southwest. Pairs defend the same territory year round, making them easy to spot if you’re in the right habitat.
The two other species are harder to find, partly because their populations are on decline due to habitat loss.
[Black-capped Gnatcatcher]
Black-capped Gnatcatchers live in a narrow range from the mesquite thickets of southeastern Arizona to the dry tropical forests of Colima in western Mexico.
California Gnatcatchers look and sound much the same…
[California Gnatcatchers]
…but these rare birds prefer the coastal scrublands of Baja California.
[Black-capped Gnatcatcher]
It takes time and effort to see all four of these gnatcatchers, but these charismatic birds are worth the journey. For BirdNote, I’m Ariana Remmel.
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Senior Producer: Mark Bramhill
Producer: Sam Johnson
Managing Producer: Jazzi Johnson
Managing Producer: Ariana Remmel
Content Director: Jonese Franklin
Bird sounds provided by The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. Black-capped Gnatcatcher ML109173 recorded by Geoffrey A. Keller. Black-tailed Gnatcatcher ML118615 recorded by Geoffrey A. Keller. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher ML94292 recorded by Wil Hershberger. California Gnatcatcher ML420836481 recorded by Nathan Pieplow.
BirdNote’s theme was composed and played by Nancy Rumbel and John Kessler.
© 2026 BirdNote October 2026
Narrator: Ariana Remmel
ID# gnatcatcher-01-2026-10-15 gnatcatcher-01
Reference:
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/blue-gray_gnatcatcher
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/California_Gnatcatcher/overview
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Black-tailed_Gnatcatcher/overview
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Black-capped_Gnatcatcher/overview
https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/poliop1/cur/introduction
Ariana Remmel
Writer NarratorSights & Sounds
