From Opus

Photo by Glen Tepke
male, Madera Canyon, Santa Rita Mountains, Coronado National Forest, Arizona, USA, 19 May 2008

Polioptila nigriceps

[edit] Identification

Adults

• Blue-grey upperparts
• White underparts
• Long slender bill
• Tail: long and black apart from white outer tailbands on the uppertail
• The white undertail shows black only along a thin vertical centre line and at the very tip
  

Males have a prominent black cap.

[edit] Similar Species

This species is very similar to the California Gnatcatcher and the Black-tailed Gnatcatcher.

[edit] Distribution

Pacific slope of Mexico from Sonora to Colima; rare but regular breeder in southeastern Arizona in the United States.

[edit] Taxonomy

[edit] Subspecies^[1]

This is a polytypic species, consisting of 2 subspecies.

• P. n. restricta:

• Extreme southern Arizona to north-western Mexico (Sonora and Chihuahua))

• P. n. nigriceps:

• Arid western Mexico (northern Sinaloa to Durango, Jalisco and Colima)

[edit] Habitat

Riparian woodlands.

[edit] Behaviour

[edit] Diet

The diet includes insects.

[edit] Breeding

Four eggs are laid in a small cup nest. Nest building and care of the young is carried out by both parents.

[edit] References

1. Clements, JF. 2009. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2009. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019.
2. Wikipedia

• List of references

[edit] External Links