Gray Catbird
Dumetella carolinensis
Aves › Passeriformes › Mimidae › Dumetella
Conservation status: least_concern
The Gray Catbird is a slate-gray songbird named for its cat-like mewing call, which sounds remarkably similar to a meowing house cat. It has a distinctive black cap and rusty undertail coverts, and is known for skulking in dense shrubs and thickets where it forages for berries and insects.
How To Identify
A relatively small passerine with a streaky gray body and often dull brown wings. Its most distinguishing feature is the dark, almost black cap on its head and iridescent blue-gray feathers visible around the throat.
Habitat
Gray Catbirds prefer dense shrubby areas, thickets, and understory vegetation in deciduous and mixed forests, woodland edges, and suburban gardens across eastern North America.
Behaviour
Gray Catbirds are notably secretive and skulking birds that spend much of their time hidden in dense vegetation, though they can become quite bold and vocal during breeding season.
Did You Know?
The name means approximately "small thornbush-dweller" or "small bird of the thornbushes" because of its habit of singing when hidden in undergrowth.
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