Photo by Kojo Baidoo / Macauley Lbrary
Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher moving north?
My partner Pat and I recorded 30 species of birds on a recent boat trip in southern Ontario. One of the species we recorded was a Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher (Polioptila melanura) at Peterborough, Ontario. Pat identified the species by recording its call on her cellphone, which has a bird call identification program. It caught my attention because it was a new species for me.
According to my Kaufman Birds of North America, I discovered it normal northern limit in summer was the north shore of Lake Erie We were some distance just above Peterborough, Ontario...a vertical/latitudinal distance of just over 240 kilometres or 150 miles. The Kaufman guide was published 25 years ago.
It appears that The Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher, like numerous small North American songbirds, is expanding its range northward. This was the first time I was personally made aware of a bird altering its area of habitation under seemingly natural forces. From what I read, this is a widespread occurence in many places in Canada and the U.S.
Please comment if you wish.
BarrytheBirder
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