polioptila (from polios, and ptilon, feather) melanura (from melanos, black, and oura, tail)
Saturday, March 31, 1984 — 9:30 am
Tucson Mountain Park, Arizona
Mom and Dad took us to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum for the morning. On the way, Mom pulled over to the side of the road so I could experience a saguaro forest. I wandered off from the others through scattered cactus and thick scrub. I entered a dry wash and heard a Black-tailed Gnatcatcher calling loudly and hoarsely. It was foraging bush to bush along the wash.