“The Blue-gray Gnatcatcher makes itself known by its soft but insistent calls and its constant motion.” perfectly described in All About Birds. This matches my observations. They are tiny and jump around the branches constantly so it is hard for me to take their pictures. Fortunately, I got a few lucky shots of this lovely bird.
“灰藍蚋鶯以其柔和而持久的呼喚和不斷的動而聞名。” 在《關於鳥類》中有這完美的描述。這很符合我的觀察。它們很小，經常在樹枝上跳來跳去，所以我很難照到它們。頗幸運的我照到它們可愛的身影。
Photo Date: 2021.01.05 Location: Peck Road Park, California
Notes 筆記
- Blue-gray Gnatcatcher or blue-grey gnatcatcher is a very small songbird, 10–13 cm (3.9–5.1 in) in length, 6.3 in (16 cm) in wingspan, and weighing only 5–7 g (0.18–0.25 oz).
- The Blue-gray Gnatcatcher’s grayish coloring and long tail, as well as the way it mixes snippets of other birds’ repertoires into its own high, nasal songs, have earned it the nickname “Little Mockingbird.”
- The blue-gray gnatcatcher’s breeding habitat includes open deciduous woods and shrublands in southern Ontario, the eastern and southwestern United States, and Mexico.
- A pair of Blue-gray Gnatcatchers can build up to seven nests in a breeding season. They often re-use nest material from previous nests, which speeds re-nesting. This can be essential to breeding success, since predation, nest parasitism, or mite infestations frequently cause nest loss and brood failure.
- Both parents build a cone-like nest on a horizontal tree branch, and share feeding the young. The incubation period is 13 days for both sexes, and two broods may be raised in a season.
- They forage actively in trees or shrubs, mainly eating insects, insect eggs and spiders. They may hover over foliage while snatching prey (gleaning), or fly to catch insects in flight (hawking). As it moves, this steely blue-gray bird conspicuously flicks its white-edged tail from side to side, scaring up insects and chasing after them.
- The tail is often held upright while defending territory or searching for food.
- 灰藍蚋鶯是一種非常小的鳴禽，其長度為10–13公分(3.9–5.1英寸)，翼展為16公分(6.3英寸)，重量僅為5–7克(0.18–0.25盎司)。
- 灰藍蚋鶯的顏色為灰色，尾巴很長，並且將其他鳥類的鳴聲片段混入自己的高鼻音中，因此贏得了綽號“小反舌鳥”。
- 灰藍蚋鶯的繁殖地包括安大略省南部，美國東部和西南部以及墨西哥的開闊落葉林和灌木叢。
- 在繁殖季節，一對灰藍蚋鶯可以築巢多達七個。它們經常重複使用先前巢穴中的材料，從而加快重建巢穴的速度。這對於繁殖成功至關重要，因為掠食，巢寄生或蟎蟲侵擾經常會導致巢丟失和育雛失敗。
- 雌雄親鳥在水平的樹枝上建了一個圓錐形的巢，並共同餵養幼雛。雌及雄的孵化期為13天，一個季節可能會孵出兩窩雛鳥。
- 它們在樹木或灌木叢中覓食，主要吃昆蟲，昆蟲卵和蜘蛛。它們可能會在抓捕獵物時懸停在枝葉上，或者會飛來飛去捕捉昆蟲。隨著它的移動，這種鐵藍色的灰色鳥明顯地從一側到另一側輕拂其白邊的尾巴，嚇唬昆蟲並追趕它們。
- 在保衛領土或尋找食物時，尾巴通常直立。
References 參考資料
- Wikipedia: Blue-gray gnatcatcher
- All about birds: Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
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