Gray Catbird

Dumetella carolinensis 
Mockingbird family (Mimidae)

Slender, 7 ¾” long. All gray with a black cap. Reddish-brown patch under the base of tail. Long tail is often cocked upwards.

Habitat:
Dense thickets of shrubby vegetation.

Nesting:
Open bulky nest built in dense woody vegetation, 3 to 10 feet above the ground. Eggs are dark bluish-green. Clutch size – 3 to 4 eggs.

Voice:

Song is a squeaky unmusical series of mimicking chirps and whistles.  Its repertoire may include syllables of more than 100 different types, sung in random order at an uneven tempo.  Call is a catlike “meow”.  Sometimes calls perfectly imitate a cat meowing.

Name Origin:

Dumetella:  dumus, Latin for “thorn bush”; -ella, Latin for “little”; literally “little one of the thorn bush”; carolinensis, “of Carolina”.

In the Nature Park:
Neotropical migrant, arrives in early May. Common in dense shrubby vegetation.

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