''Polioptila'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

of small

insectivorous A robber fly eating a hoverfly An insectivore is a carnivorous animal or plant that eats insects. An alternative term is entomophage, which can also refer to the human practice of eating insects. The first vertebrate insectivores were ...

birds in the family Polioptilidae. They are found in North and South America. The genus ''Polioptila'' was introduced by the English zoologist

Philip Sclater Philip Lutley Sclater (4 November 1829 – 27 June 1913) was an England, English lawyer and zoologist. In zoology, he was an expert ornithologist, and identified the main zoogeographic regions of the world. He was Secretary of the Zoological ...

in 1855. Although he listed several members, he did not specify a

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specim ...

. This was designated by the American ornithologist

Spencer Baird Spencer Fullerton Baird (; February 3, 1823 – August 19, 1887) was an American naturalist, ornithologist, ichthyologist, herpetologist, and museum curator. Baird was the first curator to be named at the Smithsonian Institution. He eventually ...

in 1864 as ''Montacilla caerulea'',

Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the ...

, now the

blue-grey gnatcatcher The blue-gray gnatcatcher or blue-grey gnatcatcher (''Polioptila caerulea'') is a very small songbird native to North America. Description It is in length, 6.3 in (16 cm) in wingspan, and weighing only . Adult males are blue-gray on the upperpa ...

, ''Polioptila caerulea''. The name of the genus combines the

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic pe ...

words ''πολιος'' ''polios'' "grey" and ''πτιλον'' "plumage". The genus contains 17 species: * Rio Negro gnatcatcher, ''Polioptila facilis'' – split from ''P. guianensis'' * Guianan gnatcatcher, ''Polioptila guianensis'' * Slate-throated gnatcatcher, ''Polioptila schistaceigula'' * Para gnatcatcher, ''Polioptila paraensis'' – split from ''P. guianensis'' *

Iquitos gnatcatcher The Iquitos gnatcatcher (''Polioptila clementsi'') is a bird in the family Polioptilidae. It was first described in 2005. It is known only from the Allpahuayo-Mishana National Reserve, west of Iquitos, Peru. Taxonomy and systematics The ...

, ''Polioptila clementsi'' – described in 2005 * Inambari gnatcatcher, ''Polioptila attenboroughi'' – described in 2013 * Tropical gnatcatcher, ''Polioptila plumbea'' * Creamy-bellied gnatcatcher, ''Polioptila lactea'' * Masked gnatcatcher, ''Polioptila dumicola'' *

Cuban gnatcatcher The Cuban gnatcatcher (''Polioptila lembeyei'') is a species of bird in the family Polioptilidae, the gnatcatchers. It is endemic to Cuba. Taxonomy and systematics "The Cuban gnatcatcher was described by the most famous of this island’s ...

, ''Polioptila lembeyei'' * Yucatan gnatcatcher, ''Polioptila albiventris'' * White-browed gnatcatcher, ''Polioptila bilineata'' – split from ''P. plumbea'' *

Blue-grey gnatcatcher The blue-gray gnatcatcher or blue-grey gnatcatcher (''Polioptila caerulea'') is a very small songbird native to North America. Description It is in length, 6.3 in (16 cm) in wingspan, and weighing only . Adult males are blue-gray on the upperpa ...

, ''Polioptila caerulea'' * Black-tailed gnatcatcher, ''Polioptila melanura'' *

California gnatcatcher The California gnatcatcher (''Polioptila californica'') is a small long insectivorous bird which frequents dense coastal sage scrub growth. This species was recently split from the similar black-tailed gnatcatcher of the Sonoran and Chihuahuan ...

, ''Polioptila californica'' * Black-capped gnatcatcher, ''Polioptila nigriceps'' * White-lored gnatcatcher, ''Polioptila albiloris''

References

Polioptilidae Bird genera Taxa named by Philip Sclater Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Polioptilidae-stub