Animals

Boldly Patterned In A Spellbinding Combination Of Pale Blue And White This Stunning Little Gnatcatchers Unique Look Is Finished Off In Style By A Prominent Black Mask!

A tiny bird with a black mask whereas the females have a small black ear patch on an overall pale face.

Meet the Masked Gnatcatcher

Photo (frame reduced) Courtesy of Wagner Machado Carlos Le/CC BY 2.0

The masked gnatcatcher (Polioptila dumicola) is a small, though highly active, South American songbird. However, it is the largest species of its genus Polioptila. The male has a blue-grey forehead, crown, nape, and upper parts. The flight feathers on his wings are blackish with secondary feathers being edged in white. His tail is black with the outer feathersrs being white. He also sports a rather conspicuous black mask that runs from the base of his mandible, through the eyes, and back to the year coverts. There is also a thin white strike ordering the lower edge of his mask. His bill legs and feet are black, is eyes are dark brown.

Photo Courtesy of Ron Knight/CC BY 2.0

The adult female looks very similar to the male though she does lack the black mask he wears. Instead, she has a black border that runs from behind the eye to the rear of the white ear-coverts.

She so also has a white ring that surrounds her eyes.

This bird is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay.

The Masked Gnatcatcher prefers to live in several types of habitats such as dry arid habitats with thorny bushes and cacti, wooded areas with savannas, and vast tropical savanna.

Photo Courtesy of Lip Kee/CC BY-SA 2.0

The Masked Gnatcatcher feeds on insects and spiders by flitting through the tree canopy. It regularly hops from branch to branch while foraging amongst the foliage.

Photo Courtesy of Under the same moon…/CC BY 2.0

The Masked gnatcatcher’s breeding season goes from September through to January. It builds a small cup-shaped nest made from plant fibers cemented together with spider silk and camouflaged by lichens stuck to the outer surface. A clutch of three to five eggs is laid with and incubated by both 𝓈ℯ𝓍es. Both 𝓈ℯ𝓍es will also feed young when they hatch and become fledged after 14-15 days.

The IUCN has assessed the masked gnatcatcher overall as being of Least Concern. The nominate and berlepschi appear not to be seriously threatened but saturata ” is considered to be at serious risk due to human settlement and agricultural conversion.”

You can watch this bird right here in the video below:

Related Posts

¡Un pitbull enfermo vuelve a la vida cuando conoce a este pequeño humano!

Rocky, un pitbull abandonado, rescatado de un refugio: Después de sufrir una grave negligencia y problemas de salud, Rocky fue llevado al refugio de animales de Oakville, donde…

¡Dos hombres secuestraron a un niño, pero el perro vecino no lo permitió!

Secuestran a Tommy Andrews, de diez años: Tommy Andrews fue secuestrado por dos hombres en Maplewood mientras jugaba con su perro, Buddy.Buddy, un perro pastor inglés antiguo, intentó…

Un gato sigue abrazando a un cachorro que llora… ¡Y entonces el administrador del refugio se da cuenta de lo que les ha pasado!

El refugio de animales de Sunnydale recibe animales abandonados: Una mujer de mediana edad, Ellen, trajo un cachorro llamado Maxi y un gato llamado Millie, que ya no…

Un hombre visita un refugio y su pitbull comienza a llorar. ¡Entonces ESTO sucede y te romperá el corazón!

Marcus Thompson, un viudo de 48 años, visita el refugio de animales Cedar Grove Animal Shelter por insistencia de su hija, Rebecca, para combatir su soledad tras la…

El perro se negó a mirar a nadie después de que su dueño falleció, hasta que un día,…

El pastor alemán Max experimenta un profundo dolor tras el fallecimiento de su dueño, Richard Thompson, un querido profesor de música en Springfield, Massachusetts. El bloqueo emocional de…

Un elefante moribundo de 59 años se niega a comer, pero de repente oye una voz familiar y ¡ESTO sucede!

Maya, la elefanta de 59 años, muestra signos de recuperación. Después de casi una semana de negarse a comer, Maya, una querida elefanta asiática del zoológico de Oakland,…

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *