Along with whining cicadas, catbirds have always reminded me of summer! This feeling probably stems from my first encounters with the medium sized gray birds. When I was a boy, fishing the shores of my favorite lake, I’d hear one in the dense hedgerows and thickets, usually the harsh, high-pitched, somewhat catlike call, coming from somewhere deep in the shadows. On those hot summer days, most birds cease their singing early in the day and become inactive. The catbird seems to be one of the few birds that remain active throughout the day, although it confines itself to the deep shade and heavy brush. Only occasionally he’ll fly quickly across the clearing to another thicket; a plain gray form with a longish tail.

     The catbird is found exclusively in North America along with its close relatives the mockingbird and brown thrasher, a family of birds which ornithologists refer to as the “mimic thrushes.”  Like its cousins, the catbird is a bird of the shady thickets, heavy shrubs, and other thick undergrowth. In the wild that might be in blackberry or greenbrier stands. Its Latin name, “dumetella” means “little thicket.” Some of it local names include black mockingbird, chicken bird, cat flycatcher, slate-colored mockingbird, and black-capped thrush. 

     Actually, its dark, drab gray appearance is a good field mark since there is no other bird that is uniformly gray with a black cap. While perched, it occasionally flips its dark tail nervously, often revealing the only touch of color it has; a little patch of tomato red on its undertail coverts. In size, the catbird is just a bit smaller than a robin, and a little trimmer. 

     Its song, if it can be called that, is a series of disjointed notes and phrases, not as melodious as the brown thrasher and without the mimicking ability of the mockingbird. The catbird doesn’t repeat any phrases like those two although according to some reports it will sometimes sing at night. It will frequently interrupt its song with the harsh, “mewing” note, which to me sounds more like “skaay” or “jay” than a “meow;” like a single blue jay note. Often this may be accompanied by a wren-like scolding “tschek-tschek.”  One oddity about its call is that it seems to be able to control the volume of its voice and may sound a lot farther away or closer than it is, possibly to confuse predators. Come autumn, as they prepare to migrate south, they seldom sing and if they do its usually a soft, almost whispering call.

     Catbirds are among the many songbirds, or passerines, that migrate at night. Upon their return each April, the males are quiet as they await the females, but the silent period ends as courtship begins. The male goes through much feather fluffing, wing drooping, and dancing with tail raised. There is much chasing and dashing through the thickets, pausing only briefly to utter a few notes. 

     Once paired off, the nest building follows almost immediately. The nest is built low to the ground, but well hidden. It is constructed of twigs, leaves, and grasses, lined with vegetable fibers and animal hair. The four to six eggs are glossy, greenish-blue. While the hen incubates the eggs, the male pours forth a continuous barrage of scratchy, squeaky notes. Catbirds will nest close to houses in plants such as pyracantha (firethorn), choke cherry, barberry, forsythia, many varieties of holly, photinia, or privet; the thicker the better. They have a liking for orchards, those little wild spots in parklands, along forest edges or edges of clearings, field borders or hedgerows, and along streams. They commonly raise two broods per year.

     The food of the catbird consists of insects, and insect larvae, as well as wild fruit such as wild cherries, choke cherries, blueberries, blackberries, elderberries, wild grape, and the berries of greenbrier, dogwood, pokeweed, pyracantha, and poison ivy. Being secretive, it is not easily drawn out into the open, although it is by no means timid. It tends to be a very curious and bold bird, not unlike the mockingbird. It has a curious streak that causes it to come out of hiding to investigate any intrusions into its territory. As a person passes by or enters an area where the bird is nesting, it will take up a position close by to study the intruder and utter a scolding warning.

     The catbird breeds over most of the southern edge of Canada from British Columbia east, and most of the United States except the Pacific Coast, and southwestern and Gulf states. In winter it retires to the south from Virginia to Florida and the Gulf Coast to Cuba and the Bahamas, and through Mexico and Panama. Many catbirds are trapped and banded at the Kiptopeke State Park Banding Station in Northampton County on Virginia’s Eastern Shore each September, as they move south.

     Look and listen for them in the thick shrubs and tangles of vines. Stand quietly in the shade near the thicket, and sooner or later, the curious catbird will appear briefly. Moving catlike through the thick growths to investigate the visitor to its domain.

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Artwork © 2003 Spike Knuth