It's a Catbird!
The other day my son and I saw an unusual bird near our birdfeeder. At first I thought it was a mockingbird. But he was too small and his dark gray feathers were sleek and smooth and it was lacking the flashy white patches of a mockingbird. This bird had a black bill and brownish black cap and tail. He flittered much more than a mockingbird, too, going from tree to ground with quick flycatcher movements.
This bird turns out to be, of all things, a gray catbird.
I say “of all things” because the catbird reminds me of a painful childhood memory. And since I never pass up the chance to relive a painful childhood memory, I'll tell it now.
I was in first grade. My family went camping in the mountains in upstate New York. Maybe it was the Catskills, I don't know. This was an unusual camping trip because we didn't stay at a KOA Campground. We camped smack in the middle of the woods! Well more like smack next to the woods in a meadow. But there were no bathrooms or campsites or anything. It was great!
My older brothers had a wonderful time exploring the woods, finding deer bones, being boys. My sisters and I had fun, too. But I don't remember what we did other than pee in the woods. I do remember sitting around the fire at night singing and eating and then going to bed (our clothes packed in grocery sacks). I curled up in my sleeping bag and drifted off to sleep listening to my folks and brothers still talking by the fire.
But mostly on that camping trip I remember hearing a meowing coming from high up in a tree during our lunch. My dad said it was a catbird. He said it can mimic other birds and also meow like a cat. It was so funny. I couldn't wait to go back to school and tell the teacher and the other kids all about it. I was always looking for new show-n-tell material.
Okay, here's where it gets painful.
I went back to school and excitedly told my teacher and classmates about the bird that meows like a cat - The Catbird! Some of the kids said, "You're lying." And I said, "No I'm not! I heard it and my dad said it was a catbird!" And my teacher said, "Alice, you're making it up. There's no such thing as a catbird. Who's next?"
She was wrong and I knew it. But I didn't know how to prove it to her. So I cried. Stupid teacher. I'm totally over it now of course.
But back to today. There on page 341 of my "Stokes Field Guide To Birds" is a photo of the beautiful gray bird with a black cap that I saw at the birdfeeder. Also these words:
"Gray Catbird - Voice: Song mimics other birds', each version given only once; calls include catlike "meeow" and "kwut."
Uh huh. Like I said. A catbird.
Gray Catbird, Dumetella carolinensis
Also known as the Slate-colored Mockingbird
Gray with black cap and tail,
Inconspicuous reddish-brown patch under base of tail
Sexes similar
For more detailed information, pictures, and song recordings of the Gray Catbird, go to the Cornell Labs Gray Catbird pages here and here.
Alice Hudson @ 2006 |
