The black-tailed gnatcatcher (Polioptila melanura) is a small, insectivorous bird which ranges throughout the Sonoran and Chihuahuan Deserts of the southwestern United States and northern Mexico.

[2] The black-tailed gnatcatcher reaches about 4.5 to 5 inches in length, much of it taken up by a long black tail lined with white outer feathers.

Like other gnatcatchers, it may give harsh, scolding calls while foraging for small insects and spiders in desert shrubs.

[3] Black-tailed gnatcatchers live in pairs all year, defending their territory and foraging in trees and low shrubs for a wide variety of small insects and some spiders.

It is constructed of a variety of materials including weeds, grass, strips of bark, spider webs and plant fibers.