Have you ever seen or heard a catbird? We have a pair of them making their home in Tiger Gardens. My silverberry hedge out front and the other border hedges and shrubs seem to attract all sorts of birds; which is really cool! Birds I am not familiar with such as the above catbird.
Each time I go out front to relax this bird comes around talking to me. It is not really a fussy talk but a talk nonetheless. I haven't gone searching for its next but suspect it has a nest nearby. There is also a pair of brown thrashers living in the garden but I have not been able to capture them in a picture.
I had no idea what kind of bird this was until I Googled 'large gray bird with black cap' and came up with catbird. This bird looks very similar to a Northern mockingbird; which are quite common in our part of the United States. The only real difference is that the catbird is a solid gray and has no white on it. According to the Cornell website on birds the catbird does have the ability to mimic other birds and has a good repertoire of songs. Its distinctive call to me is one that sounds like a cat though. Listen here for this call which is but one of many (listen to the mew call). Once you hear this mew call there will be no mistaking why this bird is called a catbird. An interesting note, the mew call is not the call I hear when the bird wants me to move out of its garden though. There is no recording of that chatter....
in the catbird's garden....
Words and Photos Property of In the Garden Blog Team, In the Garden
