| Group | Kinglets |
| Code | ABPBJ08010 |
| Order | Passeriformes |
| Family | Sylviidae |
| Author | (Linnaeus, 1766) |
| Rank | G5 (definitions) |
| Occurrence | SM (definitions) |
| Scale | C (definitions) |
| Western UP | Dickinson, Menominee |
| Eastern UP | Chippewa, Schoolcraft, Mackinac |
| Northern LP | Clare, Gladwin, Crawford, Bay, Arenac, Alpena, Alcona, Otsego, Oscoda, Oceana, Roscommon, Newaygo, Lake, Isabella, Leelanau, Iosco, Manistee, Mason, Mecosta, Midland |
| Southern LP | all |
Mixed Forested/Nonforested Landscapes
(Oak (Sm Saw or Lg Saw or Uneven))
or (Assorted Hardwoods (Sm Saw or Lg Saw or Uneven))
or (Northern Hardwoods (Sm Saw or Lg Saw or Uneven))
or (Swamp Hardwoods (Sm Saw or Lg Saw or Uneven))
or (Bottomland Hardwoods (Sm Saw or Lg Saw or Uneven))
view decision rule term definitions
| Habitats | Regen | Sap | Pole | Sm Saw | Lg Saw | Uneven |
| Aspen | no | no | no | no | no | - |
| Paper Birch | no | no | no | no | no | - |
| Oak | no | no | no | YES | YES | YES |
| Assorted Hardwoods | no | no | no | YES | YES | YES |
| Northern Hardwoods | no | no | no | YES | YES | YES |
| Spruce/Fir | no | no | no | no | no | no |
| Hemlock | no | no | no | no | no | no |
| Jack Pine | no | no | no | no | no | no |
| Red Pine | no | no | no | no | no | no |
| White Pine | no | no | no | no | no | no |
| Conifer Plantations | no | no | no | no | no | - |
| Mixed Upland Hardwoods | no | no | no | no | no | no |
| Mixed Northern Hardwoods | no | no | no | no | no | no |
| Mixed Upland Conifer | no | no | no | no | no | no |
| Mixed Pine | no | no | no | no | no | no |
| Swamp Hardwoods | no | no | no | YES | YES | YES |
| Balsam Poplar & Swamp Aspen & Swamp Birch | no | no | no | no | no | no |
| Bottomland Hardwoods | no | no | no | YES | YES | YES |
| Tamarack | no | no | no | no | no | no |
| Northern White Cedar | no | no | no | no | no | no |
| Black Spruce | no | no | no | no | no | no |
| Mixed Lowland Hardwoods | no | no | no | no | no | no |
| Mixed Lowland Conifer | no | no | no | no | no | no |
| Non-Forested | none | |||||
| Special Features | none |
Habitat: Throughout its range this species occurs in a variety of habitats including primary and second-growth deciduous forest, scrub, chaparral, oak savanna, pinyon, and juniper. Atlas Habitat Survey results included 30 gnatcatcher observations. Of these, 9 were in dry deciduous forest, 12 in mesic deciduous forest, 7 in wet deciduous forest, and 2 in dry mixed forest. Beech-maple, oak and oak-hickory, elm-ash-red maple swamp, and silver maple-sycamore floodplain were the most frequently used forest types. Walkinshaw and Adams found it most common in semi-open floodplain. Graber et al. in Illinois also found riparian forest to be the breeding habitat sheltering the highest densities of gnatcatchers.
Nests are built on horizontal branches from 1.2 to 21.3 m above ground, averaging 7.6 m. The finely built cup-shaped nest is lichen-covered and may be located in oaks, sycamores, walnut, silver maple, or ash, and is commonly near an opening such as a river, road, or lake.
Habitat: Breeding: Open, moist woodlands, interspersed with brushy clearings, often oak, pine, or mixed woods, bottomland forests with closed canopies, wooded swamps, stream-side thickets. Favors tall trees.
Special Habitat Requirements: An abundant supply of arthropods.
Habitat: Open woods, oaks, pines, thickets. Breeding habitat varies with region. In east, mostly in deciduous forest dominated by oak, ash, or maple, or in southern pine woods with understory of oak.
Diet: Mostly insects. Feeds on a wide variety of small insects, including leafhoppers, treehoppers, plant bugs, leaf beetles, caterpillars, flies, small wasps. Also eats many spiders.
Nest: Site is in tree, often deciduous. Nest saddled on top of horizontal limb of tree, less often in fork of horizontal limb; height above ground is quite variable, 2-80 feet up, but 20-40 feet may be typical. Nest is a compact open cup of grass, weeds, plant fibers, strips of bark, lined with plant down, animal hair, feathers. Outside of nest coated with spider webs and decorated with pieces of lichen, making nest well camouflaged.