Bird of the Month: Gray Catbird
Gray Catbird. Photo by Jeff Bryant.
By Roger Digges, CCAS Vice-President
Although they’re one of our most common summer residents, it’s possible you haven’t seen one yet, even though they’ve been around for at least two months. It’s very likely that you’ve heard one, but didn’t know it, maybe thought you were hearing a chorus of several different birds and weird whistles. Perhaps you heard what you thought was a cat or a kitten softly or not so softly mewing in some densely tangled thicket. What you heard was actually a Gray Catbird.
I’ve heard them almost every day at Meadowbrook in May and June (thus far) and saw them often—dark birds with long tails—sometimes flitting from branch to branch in deep cover and other times perching out in the open. In the light you can see that a Gray Catbird is indeed a gray bird, as its name implies. But if you get a good look, you will see that it also has a black cap and blackish tail. If you’re really fortunate, and see the bird from underneath or when it has its tail cocked, you will see that its “undertail coverts” (the feathers on its underside where the tail meets its belly) are a surprisingly bright copper color. Males and females look the same, but it is the male that does most of the singing. Females seem to be attracted to males with the longest, most complex song. The tradeoff for attracting females in this way is that, the longer the song, the longer a predator has to find him. While females occasionally sing, their songs are shorter and softer. They, after all, do not want to draw attention to themselves or their nest.
Females build their nests on horizontal branches in thickets, anywhere from four feet up to 60 feet off the ground. They lay one to six turquoise eggs in a nest that is six inches across, two inches deep, and lined with soft material; some of the nesting material is provided by the male. They incubate the eggs for 12 to 15 days before altricial nestlings hatch. Altricial birds are naked and helpless when born, but within a week and a half, catbirds are ready to fly.
How do you find a Gray Catbird? Go anyplace with dense thickets and vines and listen. If you hear that soft mew, and have two good ears, you should be able to locate the bird. You can find them at any natural area in parks or forest preserves in the area or any neighborhood where residents have planted natural shrubs and allowed them to become a bit untidy. Catbirds love untidy. To persuade these somewhat secretive birds to pop out of the thickets, you can use a technique birders call “pishing.” Make a soft sh’ing sound while adding a few “p”s can sound like the alarm call of small birds. Catbirds are curious (like the mammal they’re named after) and pop into view to see what the fuss is about. Don’t overuse this technique, particularly when catbirds are nesting, as it may interfere with them caring for their young.
How can you attract them to your yard? Catbirds typically don’t come to feeders, as they are primarily insect eaters. All About Birds suggests that you plant bushes in your yard (preferably native) near young deciduous trees. Catbirds are also drawn to berries, such as serviceberries and winterberries. We occasionally see catbirds in our yard, feeding in one of our four serviceberry trees or drinking or bathing in our small artificial waterfall. But our neighborhood isn’t quite wild enough, so we rarely see or hear them.
How are Gray Catbirds doing? The North American Breeding Bird survey shows that their population has stayed about the same over the last half century. Nesting as far north as central Manitoba, Canada, and overwintering as far south as the northwest tip of Colombia in South America, these birds are estimated to number about 28 million by Partners in Flight. You can help keep their numbers up by preserving wild tangled spaces in your yard, your neighborhood, and parks.
Gray Catbird with its copper “undertail covert” feathers visible. Photo by Jeff Bryant.