Gray Catbird
Dumetella carolinensis
Also known as: Grey Catbird, Blackbird, Catbird
Habitat
Understory
Diet
Invertebrate
Active Time
Diurnal
Size
35 g
About This Species
A slate-grey songbird of dense shrubby thickets, forest edges, and overgrown gardens across eastern and central North America, named for its distinctive cat-like mewing call given from cover. It is also an accomplished mimic, weaving snippets of other birds' songs into a long, rambling warble, and it forages low in dense vegetation for insects and berries. Late spring through summer is the best season to hear its varied song, though it often stays hidden and is easier to hear than see.
Ethical Viewing Guidelines
- This species tends to stay within dense cover and will often scold with its mewing call if approached too closely, which is a good cue to hold your distance rather than push into the thicket.
- It is protected under migratory bird treaty law across its US and Canadian range, covering its nest and eggs as well as the bird itself.
- Avoiding trimming dense shrubby cover during the breeding season helps protect well-hidden nests that are easily damaged without anyone noticing.
Seasonal Activity
9,103,213 sightings · 2000–2026
Citizen science records via GBIF
Classification
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Mimidae
Traits
- Diet
- Invertebrate
- Foraging
- Understory
- Activity
- Diurnal
- Body mass
- 35 g
Photo
(c) Braxton L., some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Braxton L.
CC-BY-NC-4.0
Occurrence data from GBIF.