- Polioptila bilineata
Identification
10-12.7 cm (4-5 in)
- Black crown, rear neck and stripe behind the eye
- Blue-grey upperparts
- Wings with white edging on the tertials and primaries
- Long, thin black tail with narrow white tips and edges, often tilted up
- White face (including lore) and belly
- Whitish underparts
Female: similar to the male, but with a grey, rather than black, crown.
Young birds have a brown tinge to the upperparts and face, and whiter underparts.
Distribution
Mexico through Central America to South America west of the Andes (Colombia to Peru)
Taxonomy
This species was recently split from Tropical Gnatcatcher.
Subspecies
Five subspecies are recognized[1].
- P. b. brodkorbi
- Atlantic lowlands of southeastern Mexico (north to southern Veracruz and northeastern Oaxaca) south to eastern Nicaragua, intergrading with superciliaris in northern Costa Rica
- P. b. superciliaris
- Pacific and Atlantic lowlands of Costa Rica and Panama, probably also adjacent northwestern Colombia
- P. b. cinericia
- Panama (Coiba island)
- P. b. bilineata
- P. b. daguae
- Colombia (upper Río Dagua and upper Río Patía)
Habitat
Most frequent below 1200 m asl, sometimes higher. Most often in canopy or edges of forest but also in bushes and scrub some distance from forest.
Behaviour
The nest is a small cup made from vegetable fibres, mostly at low to middle height of a tree or large bush.
Vocalisation
Sharp thrill of rapid notes lasting 1-2 seconds
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, T. A. Fredericks, J. A. Gerbracht, D. Lepage, S. M. Billerman, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2022. The eBird/Clements checklist of Birds of the World: v2022. Downloaded from https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Gill, F, D Donsker, and P Rasmussen (Eds). 2023. IOC World Bird List (v 13.1)_red. Doi 10.14344/IOC.ML.13.1. http://www.worldbirdnames.org/
- del Hoyo, J., N. Collar, and G. M. Kirwan (2021). White-browed Gnatcatcher (Polioptila bilineata), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (S. M. Billerman, B. K. Keeney, P. G. Rodewald, and T. S. Schulenberg, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.trogna2.01
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) White-browed Gnatcatcher. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 2 May 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/White-browed_Gnatcatcher
External Links
GSearch checked for 2020 platform.
