May 25, 2021: Gray Catbird
So there you are, sitting out on your deck or porch. All of a sudden, you hear the meow of a cat. You look around and see nothing. A dark-gray bird darts into a close shrub.
Sure enough, you have just heard the Gray Catbird make some of its very loud vocalizations. The males keep up an almost continuous chatter trying to sound very attractive to the females. A medium-sized gray bird with a black cap and bright rusty feathers under the tail, Gray Catbirds are relatives of mockingbirds and thrashers.
If you’d like to improve your skills at identifying birds by their songs, consider Cornell University’s “How to Identify Bird Songs” course. This course will help you identify bird songs from the High Sierras to Coastal Maine (and many places in between).
Happy Birding!