Gray Catbird

Here's 1 of last year's Gray Catbirds. After yesterday's Brown-headed Cowbirds, you might be asking yourself, besides cats and cows, are there a lot of mammal names starting with C that form a name of a bird? I can't think of any, though I did check to see if there was anything called a Coyotebird (I got some roadrunner hits), Capybarabird (you'll find pictures of a Capybara with a bird on its head/back), or Chimpbirds (you'll learn that some birds have as much impulse control as chimpanzees). 

Catbirds derive the cat part of their name based on a cat-like vocalization they make while cowbirds get the cow part of their name for hanging around bovines. It would appear that many birds being named didn't get associated in the human mind with this category of mammals.

This individual was doing a good job of showing off the crisp light gray feathering covering most of their body and the dark gray cap. 

June 24, 2023 at Duke Farms
Photo 301212523, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)


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