CreatureData

Black-tailed gnatcatcher

Polioptila melanura Lawrence, 1857

LCLeast Concernsongbirds

The black-tailed gnatcatcher (Polioptila melanura) is a species in the family Polioptilidae, order Passeriformes. Recorded adults weigh 5.1 g to 5.3 g. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.

Black-tailed gnatcatcher (Polioptila melanura)
Photo: Dominic Sherony · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the black-tailed gnatcatcher

Weight
5.1 g – 5.3 gsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
Not recorded
Diet
Invertivoresrc for Diet
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
shrublandsrc for Habitat
Egg incubation
14.5 dayssrc for Egg incubation
Young per litter or clutch
3.9 – 4src for Young per litter or clutch
Litters or clutches a year
2src for Litters or clutches a year
Lifestyle
Perchingsrc for Lifestyle
Migration
Sedentarysrc for Migration
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
Not recorded

Where does the black-tailed gnatcatcher live?

Not recorded

What is the black-tailed gnatcatcher?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The black-tailed gnatcatcher (Polioptila melanura) is a small, insectivorous bird which ranges throughout the Sonoran and Chihuahuan Deserts of the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. It is nonmigratory and found in arid desert areas year-round.

From the Wikipedia article “Black-tailed gnatcatcher” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Black-tailed_gnatcatcher&oldid=1341641498), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.

Is the black-tailed gnatcatcher endangered?

The black-tailed gnatcatcher is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.

  1. LCLeast Concern
  2. NTNear Threatened
  3. VUVulnerable
  4. ENEndangered
  5. CRCritically Endangered
  6. EWExtinct in the Wild
  7. EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species. What the categories mean.

How is the black-tailed gnatcatcher classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classAves
  4. orderPasseriformes
  5. familyPolioptilidae
  6. genusPolioptila
  7. SpeciesPolioptila melanura Lawrence, 1857
Other names and names in other languages (32)
  • agafamosquits cuanegreCatalan
  • leskot pokřovníCzech
  • gwybed-ddaliwr cynffondduWelsh
  • Sorthalet SnerresmutteDanish
  • SchwarzschwanzmückenfängerGerman
  • Schwarzschwanz-MückenfängerGerman
  • nigravosta polioptiloEsperanto
  • Perlita colinegraSpanish
  • Perlita del desiertoSpanish
  • aavikkosääskikerttuFinnish
  • Gobemoucheron à queue noireFrench
  • crnorepa mušičarkaCroatian
  • feketefarkú szúnyogkapóHungarian
  • zanzariere codaneraItalian
  • Pigliamoschini codaneraItalian
  • オグロブユムシクイJapanese
  • juodauodegis mašalinukasLithuanian
  • melnastes odķērājsLatvian
  • ZwartstaartmuggenvangerDutch
  • ørkenmyggsmettNorwegian
  • siwuszka czarnosternaPolish
  • Balança-rabo-pretoPortuguese
  • balança-rabo-do-desertoPortuguese
  • caça-mosquitos-de-cauda-pretaPortuguese
  • Чернохвостая комароловкаRussian
  • sivuška čiernochvostáSlovak
  • Crnorepa komaricaSerbian
  • ökenmyggsnappareSwedish
  • Kara Kuyruklu BitkuşuTurkish
  • комароловка чорнохвостаUkrainian
  • 黑尾蚋莺Chinese
  • 黑尾蚋鶯Chinese

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistWikidataIUCN Red List

Relatives of the black-tailed gnatcatcher

Other species in the same genus Polioptila.

CompareBlack-tailed gnatcatcher vs Blue-gray gnatcatcherBlack-tailed gnatcatcher vs Tropical gnatcatcherBlack-tailed gnatcatcher vs California gnatcatcherBlack-tailed gnatcatcher vs Masked gnatcatcher

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the black-tailed gnatcatcher?

An adult black-tailed gnatcatcher weighs 5.1 g – 5.3 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Is the black-tailed gnatcatcher endangered?

The black-tailed gnatcatcher is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.

What kind of animal is the black-tailed gnatcatcher?

The black-tailed gnatcatcher (Polioptila melanura) belongs to the family Polioptilidae in the order Passeriformes.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.

Embed a card for this animal on your own site

Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.

Preview the card

APA

CreatureData. (2026). Black-tailed gnatcatcher (Polioptila melanura). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/black-tailed-gnatcatcher

MLA

“Black-tailed gnatcatcher (Polioptila melanura).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/black-tailed-gnatcatcher.

BibTeX
@misc{black_tailed_gnatcatcher_2026,
  title = {Black-tailed gnatcatcher (Polioptila melanura)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/black-tailed-gnatcatcher},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}