TROPIC and NEAR-TROPIC BIRD COLLECTION

Gnatcatcher On Nest Blue-gray Gnatcatcher-Polioptila caerulea Blue-gray Gnatcatcher-Polioptila caerulea, Family Sylviidae. Looks like a minature mockingbird. Today was a wonderful birding day--mild temps, clear skies and excellent lighting. These birds are very "flitty." I came across this nest neat the bird observation shelter. The nest was being constructed out of spider webs, lichens and other materials. This bird was spotted on a beautiful, sunny late-April day in the Shaker Trace Wetlands in the Miami Whitewater Forest area in SW Ohio. CLICK HERE to view a QUICKTIME Movie of their nest building. I also put together a QUICKTIME SLIDESHOW of these beautiful birds building their nest! (Photo: April 24, 2004, Canon 10D, EF 400mm f/5.6 L USM, 1.4x teleconverter EF ll lens, manual focus) "Only species of gnatcatcher common in eastern US. Absent in Winter." For More info: http://www.nenature.com/BlueGrayGnatcatcher.htm

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Photos Copyright R. Hays Cummins. Authorization required. For permission, contact hays@environment-education-press.org

Sources of species identification and other amazing info include (1) Cornell Lab of Ornithology--a fantastic site; (2)Birds of Eastern and Central North America, Peterson Field Guide Series, Fifth Edition, Houghton Mifflin Company; (3) The National Audubon Society's Sibley Guide to Birds and (4) Field Guide to the Birds of North America, Third Edition, National Geographic, Washington, D.C.