The Gray Catbird (Dumetella carolinensis) is a medium-sized songbird commonly found across North America. Often heard before it is seen, this bird is a frequent visitor to backyards and parks. It is a relative of mockingbirds and thrashers, sharing their impressive vocal abilities. These adaptable birds are recognizable members of many North American ecosystems.
Distinctive Features
The Gray Catbird is distinct in both its appearance and vocalizations. It measures about 8 to 9 inches (20 to 23 centimeters) long and is primarily a uniform soft gray. Notable features include a black cap and rust-red feathers under its long tail, visible when the bird perches.
The bird’s name comes from its unique, cat-like mewing call. Beyond this sound, Gray Catbirds are skilled vocal mimics, imitating other bird songs, tree frog calls, or even man-made noises. Males can string together various chirps, squeaks, whistles, and gurgles into complex songs lasting up to 10 minutes. They can produce varied sounds, sometimes simultaneously using both sides of their vocal organ (syrinx).
Where Catbirds Live
Gray Catbirds inhabit a wide range of environments across North America. They prefer areas with dense vegetation like shrubbery, thickets, woodland edges, and overgrown farmland. They are also common in suburban gardens and parks, often near young deciduous trees or fruit-bearing plants. The genus name, Dumetella, means “small thicket,” reflecting their preferred habitat.
These migratory birds breed across temperate North America, primarily in the eastern and central United States and Canada. For winter, they migrate south to the southeastern U.S., Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean. Spring migration north occurs from March to late April, with their return south beginning in late August.
Life and Habits
Gray Catbirds are omnivores, with a diet of insects and various fruits and berries. About half their diet consists of fruits like raspberries, cherries, and blackberries. They also consume insects such as ants, beetles, grasshoppers, and caterpillars, especially during summer. Catbirds forage by hopping along dense vegetation, often low to the ground.
Catbirds are secretive, often staying hidden within dense bushes and thickets while foraging or singing. Males use loud songs to proclaim territory, and both sexes may defend their territories aggressively. They build cup-shaped nests, typically in dense shrubs or vine tangles, where they lay an average of four eggs.