June 12, 2026

I heard it before I saw it. A Gray Catbird (Dumetella carolinensis) posing on a post, for my camera. They’re just here for the breeding season, but at least they spend that much time here.

I adore seeing them, and hearing them too. An insistent and loud songster, the male will begin his repertoire before the sun rises, and continue until long after the sun has set. Included in his list of sounds are mew calls, which indeed do sound like a domestic cat. His songs also include whines, nasal tones, whistles, squeaks, gurgles, imitations of other birds and frogs, as well as mechanical sounds. Mockingbirds will repeat the same sound three to four time, not the Catbird. They’ll sing many unique phrases, seldom ever repeating the same sound twice in a row.

Female Gray Catbirds don’t sing often, and when they do, they produce a more quiet, soft version of the male’s involved song. She often sings the song, which she has heard him sing, back to him.

Ah nature. So special.

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