Masked Gnatcatcher

The masked gnatcatcher is 12 to 13 cm (4.7 to 5.1 in) long and weighs 5 to 7 g (0.18 to 0.25 oz), larger than most other gnatcatchers. The nominate male has a large black mask with a thin white line below it. Its forehead, crown, nape, and upperparts are blue-gray. Its tail is mostly black with white outer feathers. Its throat is pale gray fading to whitish on the belly. The nominate female does not have a mask but instead a black crescent down from the eye. Its upperparts are duller and not as bluish. P. d. saturata is darker than the nominate; it is slate gray overall that is lighter on the underside. The P. d. berlepschi male is paler than the nominate, dull gray rather than blue-gray above and white below, and has a narrower mask. The female berlepschi is paler than the nominate female.

The nominate masked gnatcatcher is found from Paraguay and southern Brazil south into Uruguay and eastern Argentina. It may also be in southeastern Bolivia. P. d. saturata is found in the Bolivian highlands south of Cochabamba Department. P. d. berlepschi is found in central Brazil as far north as Mato Grosso and Amazonas and probably eastern Bolivia. The nominate masked gnatcatcher has been recorded most often in the Gran Chaco biome but also in Humid Chaco and several types of savanna, usually at elevations less than 1,000 m (3,300 ft). P. d. saturata inhabits dry montane forest between 1,500 and 2,000 m (4,900 and 6,600 ft), among the highest habitat for any gnatcatcher. P. d. berlepschi inhabits Cerrado and Pantanal ecoregions with their widely spaced trees rather than continuous canopy.

The masked gnatcatcher's diet is small arthropods. It forages in the canopy, most often by gleaning while hopping on branches; it also hover-gleans and sallies for flying prey. It hunts singly and in pairs, most often as part of a mixed-species foraging flock.