gnatcatcher
noun
gnat·catch·er ˈnat-ˌka-chər 
-ˌke-
: any of a genus (Polioptila) of several small North and South American insectivorous oscine birds
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the Web The new addition to Mission Trails Park is critical habitat for the California gnatcatcher, an endangered songbird, Berninger said, and also hosts other animals such as mule deer and bobcats. 
Deborah Sullivan Brennan, San Diego Union-Tribune, 5 Aug. 2022 Early migrants reported from Santuit Pond in Mashpee included a great-crested flycatcher and a blue-gray gnatcatcher, and other sightings included a blue-winged teal, 68 ring-necked ducks, 2 bald eagles, and 16 osprey. BostonGlobe.com, 13 Apr. 2022 Reports included a Virginia rail, a sora, a yellow-breasted chat and a clay-colored sparrow at Millennium Park in West Roxbury, and a blue-gray gnatcatcher in the Belle Isle Cemetery in East Boston. BostonGlobe.com, 28 Nov. 2021 However, the court rejected arguments from environmentalists that new homes posed dramatic threats to the gnatcatcher, a type of songbird, and the spadefoot toad. San Diego Union-Tribune, 11 Mar. 2022 In Easton, a blue-gray gnatcatcher was sighted on the campus of Stonehill College. BostonGlobe.com, 17 Oct. 2021 Other interesting reports included a cackling goose in Plymouth, two cattle egrets in the Chiltonville section of Plymouth, and a blue-gray gnatcatcher at Manomet Bird Observatory. BostonGlobe.com, 30 Oct. 2021 Two blue grosbeaks and a blue-gray gnatcatcher were seen at Horn Pond in Woburn, and two red-necked grebes were seen at the Cambridge Reservoir in Waltham. BostonGlobe.com, 25 Sep. 2021 But where some of the smaller species, such as the busy gnatcatcher, may be harder to find, the starlings are aggressive extroverts, loud and pushy and proud. Kimberly Miller, orlandosentinel.com, 12 Sep. 2021 See More
Deborah Sullivan Brennan, San Diego Union-Tribune, 5 Aug. 2022 Early migrants reported from Santuit Pond in Mashpee included a great-crested flycatcher and a blue-gray gnatcatcher, and other sightings included a blue-winged teal, 68 ring-necked ducks, 2 bald eagles, and 16 osprey. BostonGlobe.com, 13 Apr. 2022 Reports included a Virginia rail, a sora, a yellow-breasted chat and a clay-colored sparrow at Millennium Park in West Roxbury, and a blue-gray gnatcatcher in the Belle Isle Cemetery in East Boston. BostonGlobe.com, 28 Nov. 2021 However, the court rejected arguments from environmentalists that new homes posed dramatic threats to the gnatcatcher, a type of songbird, and the spadefoot toad. San Diego Union-Tribune, 11 Mar. 2022 In Easton, a blue-gray gnatcatcher was sighted on the campus of Stonehill College. BostonGlobe.com, 17 Oct. 2021 Other interesting reports included a cackling goose in Plymouth, two cattle egrets in the Chiltonville section of Plymouth, and a blue-gray gnatcatcher at Manomet Bird Observatory. BostonGlobe.com, 30 Oct. 2021 Two blue grosbeaks and a blue-gray gnatcatcher were seen at Horn Pond in Woburn, and two red-necked grebes were seen at the Cambridge Reservoir in Waltham. BostonGlobe.com, 25 Sep. 2021 But where some of the smaller species, such as the busy gnatcatcher, may be harder to find, the starlings are aggressive extroverts, loud and pushy and proud. Kimberly Miller, orlandosentinel.com, 12 Sep. 2021 See More Word History
First Known Use
1839, in the meaning defined above