Catbird Cries
Catbirds arrive back from their southern hones the last week of April. You will notice the sound of the catbird cries. If there are a few catbirds in the area it may sometimes sound like cats fighting.
Gray Catbird
The gray catbird is a medium-size perching bird that is slate gray in color with a black cap and tail and brick red under tail-coverts.
The male and female look identical and can only be told apart by their mating behaviors.
General Information
| Name:: | Gray Catbird, Grey Catbird, Slate-colored mockingbird |
| Scientific Name:: | Dumetella carolinensis |
| Family: | Mimid |
| Size: | 8–9.5 inches |
| Habitat: | Woodlands, orchards, gardens, hedges, and shrubberies |
| Diet: | Insects, berries, fruit |
Video of Catbird Cries
After listening to the soundtrack, do you agree the bird sounds like a cat?
Diet In Nature
| Crickets & Grasshoppers | Virginia creeper berries |
| Blackberries | Ants |
| Elderberries | Cankerworms |
| Raspberries | Scavenger Beetles |
| Potato Beetle | Chinch-bugs |
What They Eat In The Yard
Catbirds will visit and nest in your yard if you have scrubs. They love berry trees and bushes and will steal a few of your strawberries will you have them in your garden.
Behinds the natural items they may find in your yard, you can offer anything from the list below.
Offer At The Feeder:
Sugar Water
Berries
Oranges
Grape Jelly
Suet
Nesting Info
| Habitat: | Thickets, shrubs, or heavily foliaged trees |
| Nest Shape | Cup nest |
| Eggs: | 1-5 eggs that are deep greenish blue |
| Incubation: | 2 to 16 days |
| Fledging: | 10-11 days |
General Nesting Information
Catbirds raise their young in bushes and thickets close to the ground. It is not uncommon to see them nesting in a bush in your yard. Females lay 1-5 eggs that are deep greenish-blue in a high cup-shaped nest. The female incubates the eggs but both parents feed the young. The young stay in the nest for a short time, only 10-11 days.
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