Gray Catbird

Here's a Gray Catbird I met.

While sometimes I'm just using a photograph to introduce a topic, this picture came out pretty well. The dark gray cap stands out against the light gray elsewhere, and you can even see a hint of the rufous coloring on the undertail, usually only seen inflight.

These are birds that speak their mind. Their squawky vocalizations remind people of a cat's call, though I doubt it's ever fooled a single cat. Though this fella was out in the open, catbirds will sometimes squawk from dense foliage. (If you ever think a thicket is squawking at you, there could be a catbird in there.)

They are officially mimics; they're even related to our most-heard mimic, the Northern Mockingbird; in some circles the Gray Catbird is actually called the Slate-colored Mockingbird. Unlike their cousins though, the Gray Catbird wants to have nothing to do with our winters. I only see them in warmer months (though supposedly a few of isolated individuals do stick around).

June 5, 2021 at Duke Farms
Photo 136368337, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)


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