from the January 23, 2011 Newsletter issued from
Hacienda Chichen Resort beside Chichén Itzá Ruins, central Yucatán, MÉXICO
GYMNASTIC GNATCATCHER
Little Blue-gray Gnatcatchers quietly flit about, so small and fast and plain-looking that
they're easy to overlook, unless one of them makes his soft, slightly buzzy, nasal call.
The other day one came working along the forest's edge in front of my hut searching
beneath this and that leaf, checking out the trunk's other side, hopping from twig to
twig, and I took a whole series of photos without getting a single shot showing the bird
in any position other than what looked like a painful contortion, and always certain body
parts were blurred by quick movement. A tail-bent example is seen belos:
Maybe you remember how back in Querétaro (see below) during the winter months
Blue-gray Gnatcatchers were often the most commonly seen bird in the acacia-rich scrub
surrounding the big reservoir. Here you see them fairly regularly, but not every day. Here
it's also possible to see Tropical Gnatcatchers and maybe White-lored Gnatcatchers and
even Long-billed Gnatwrens, so each time a gnatcatcher flits by I mentally confirm the
Blue-gray's field marks -- white eyering, white tail underside, dark wings, no black on
head...
Though in parts of Mexico Blue-gray Gnatcatchers are only winter visitor, in many
places, including the Yucatán, they're permanent residents. In most of the US they're
just summer residents, but they're present year-round in the southernmost states, from
coast to coast.
from the September 14, 2007 Newsletter issued from issued
from Sierra Gorda Biosphere Reserve, QUERÉTARO, MÉXICO
BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHERS ARRIVED
During the winter dry season the most common bird species out in the scrub is definitely
the Blue-gray Gnatcatcher. Sometimes so many buzzy TZEEEER sounds come from
around you that it's funny.
Gnatcatchers have been absent here the last few months. That's kind of surprising because
the distribution map in my "Howell's" -- as birders refer to the two-inch-thick
tome that's the last word on Mexican birds -- shows the species as a permanent resident
here. Plus the similar Black-tailed Gnatcatcher also is a permanent resident. Still, I
haven't seen a single one of either species all "summer."
In all but the cooler parts of North America Blue-gray Gnatcatchers are common though many
birders who just watch species in their backyards may not know them. Gnatcatchers like
treetops, plus they have small, slender beaks for catching insects, so they don't find
birdfeeders holding seeds so attractive.
Despite their being so abundant here, it's always a pleasure hearing their buzzes among
the Sweet Acacias, and seeing their long tails flitting through the trees' frilly, diffuse
leaves.
from the May 26, 2002 Newsletter issued from issued from
the woods near Natchez, Mississippi, USA
MYSTERY NEST
The hunters who lease hunting rights at Laurel Hill have planted about 20 acres of beans
in the hope that deer will eat the plants and thrive. The other day deep inside one bean
field I found a bird nest lying on the ground, surely blown there by last weekend's strong
winds.
 It was a beautiful little nest only 2.5
inches across at its widest (6.35 cm). Naturally I've scanned this nest and you can see it
at the right.
On our birdnest page I tell all about the
detective work done to figure out that the nest had been constructed by a Blue-gray
Gnatcatcher. The main pieces of evidence were the nest's size, its globular shape, its
being encrusted with flat flakes of gray foliose lichens, and the whole thing being stuck
together with spider webs. Below you can also see how the webbing was incorporated into
the nest.
  Maybe the most striking part of the whole
mystery-nest experience was that I learned that the Internet is even a more powerful
information resource than I had imagined -- and I already had a profound respect for it.
I'm particularly impressed by the process of "Googling," an
information-gathering procedure available to anyone with a computer and access to the
Internet.
I Googled my mystery nest by going to the Google search engine at www.google.com, and when
the word box appeared typing in these words: BIRD NEST SPIDER WEB LICHEN GLOBULAR. That's
not very grammatical, but search engines look for keywords, not good grammar.
Google came up with several pages about the Ruby-crowned Kinglet. The problem with this
response was that Ruby-crowned Kinglets are in our area during the winter but not during
late spring and summer, so they don't build nests here. Nonetheless, mention of the
Ruby-crowned Kinglet was important, for we do have a small woodland bird here during the
summer which belongs to the same family as the kinglets, the Blue-gray Gnatcatcher. And
usually birds in the same family build similar nests.
Now I re-Googled my nest, this time using Google's "Images" feature, with the
keywords BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER NEST. Now up came pictures of nests looking as much like
the mystery nest as they possibly could. Therefore: Blue-gray Gnatcatcher! |