Tag: Gray Catbird (Dumetella carolinensis)

A Gray Catbird

October 6, 2026

I seldom see (or hear) a Gray Catbird (Dumetella carolinensis) up here. But for the past few days I’ve been hearing one, and yesterday I was able to see it and get a picture of it. Along with some Cardinals (Cardinalis cardinalis), they were enjoying the berries in the Flowering Dogwood trees (Cornus florida) which are prolific this year.

Their song is a long series of varied sounds, often lasting for many minutes. The song includes whines, nasal tones, gurgles, squeaks and whistles. But the one thing that I notice in particular is the catlike mews.

So very glad I was able to get a picture.

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    Gray Catbird Here For The Summer

    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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    Mimic Catbird

    December 23, 2025

    It is grouped together in a family of songbirds known as mimics, the Mimidae family, along with our familiar Mockingbirds, and Thrashers. This is the Gray Catbird (Dumetella carolinensis).

    These clever birds have a repertoire that includes calls and songs known to be of the Catbird, but also imitations of other songbirds, frogs, and noises that humans have around them such as car alarms, cell phone rings and sirens.

    It’s unusual for me to see a Catbird up here in these mountains, particularly in the winter but sometimes it does happen.

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