Creamy-bellied Gnatcatcher

Overview

The creamy-bellied gnatcatcher (Polioptila lactea) is a species of bird in the family Polioptilidae found in southern South America. It is currently assessed as Least Concern by the IUCN, having improved from a previous Near Threatened status despite being restricted to lowland forests where habitat destruction has occurred.

Identification

• Males have a bluish-black cap with white lores and supercilium, while females and juveniles possess slate gray crowns.
• Upperparts are dark slate blue, with a long tail featuring black central feathers and white outermost feathers.
• Cheeks and underparts are pale yellowish, transitioning to white on the lower belly.
• The song is described as a simple, fast repetition of "tee tee tee tee swee swee swee," and the call is "spie."

Habitat

Found in southern Brazil, adjoining southeastern Paraguay, and northeastern Argentina, this species typically occurs below 400 m elevation. It inhabits diverse biomes including open humid forest and its edges, temperate rainforest, semi-deciduous forest, and scrublands.

Diet

The diet is not well documented but is believed to consist of small insects and spiders. Foraging behaviour involves gleaning and hover-gleaning foliage, both solo and within mixed-species flocks.

Did you know?

Almost nothing is known about its breeding phenology, but the single described nest was built by both sexes out of moss and leaves in the crotch of a branch near the top of a 30 m high tree.