Gnatwrens and gnatcatchers | Polioptilidae

Muggenvangers | Perlitas

A small American family of songbirds numbering ten species in three genera in this guide, from desert scrub and dry forest in Mexico to humid rainforest in Panama. They are small, slim, active birds with a thin, pointed bill. The gnatcatchers are blue-grey above and white below, with a long, narrow black tail with white outer feathers that they constantly cock, spread and wave from side to side; in several species the male has a black cap or eyebrow, especially in the breeding season. The gnatwrens are browner, with a longer, very fine bill and a short or long, often cocked tail, and live in the undergrowth and vine tangles of humid forest. All species search restlessly for small insects and spiders in the foliage, the gnatcatchers often in mixed flocks. The voice consists of thin, nasal or squeaky calls; the song is a soft warble, and that of the Trilling Gnatwren a clear, even trill. The gnatcatchers' nest is a deep, neat cup of plant fibres bound with spider silk and often covered with lichen, placed on a branch.