gnatcatcher

American  

[nat-kach-er] / ˈnætˌkætʃ ər /

noun

1. any tiny insect-eating, New World warbler of the genus Polioptila, having a long, mobile tail and a slender bill.

---

gnatcatcher British  

/ ˈnætˌkætʃə /

noun

1. any of various small American songbirds of the genus Polioptila and related genera, typically having a long tail and a pale bluish-grey plumage: family Muscicapidae (Old World flycatchers, etc)

---

Etymology

Origin of gnatcatcher

First recorded in 1835–45; gnat + catcher

---

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

gnatcatcher

And if it is feeling somewhat cosmopolitan, the blue-gray gnatcatcher goes by its French name - Gobemoucheron gris-bleu.

From Washington Times ● May 12, 2018

The group is concerned about several endangered species that would be affected by prototype and actual wall construction, including the checkerspot butterfly, coastal California gnatcatcher and San Diego fairy shrimp.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 31, 2017

In 2010, the Pacific Legal Foundation filed a petition based on an earlier DNA analysis of gnatcatcher cells by Zink.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 31, 2016

In September the fish and game commission, bowing to construction-industry arguments that protecting the gnatcatcher would cost the state $20 billion and 200,000 jobs, decided not to list the bird.

From Time Magazine Archive

The only nest like the hummingbirds, and comparable to it in neatness and symmetry, is that of the blue-gray gnatcatcher.

From Wake-Robin by John Burroughs

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---