Gray Catbird

The Gray Catbird is a slim, secretive songbird of dense thickets and shrubby tangles, named for its distinctive cat-like mewing call. Despite its plain overall coloring, it is a close relative of the more boldly patterned Northern Mockingbird and Brown Thrasher.

Its plumage is unusually uniform for a songbird, lacking the streaking, spotting, or wing bars common to many other species, which itself becomes a useful identifying trait.

A small rufous-chestnut patch hidden beneath the tail is the one bright spot in otherwise entirely gray plumage, visible mainly when the bird lifts or fans its tail.

Size and Shape

Slim, soft-textured contour feathers and a fairly long tail relative to body size.

Color and Pattern

• Body feathers are uniform slate-gray, without streaking, spotting, or wing bars.
• The crown feathers are black, forming a distinct cap.
• Tail feathers are black.
• Undertail covert feathers are rufous-chestnut, a distinctive but easily overlooked patch.

Comparisons

The lack of any streaking or wing bars, combined with uniform gray tone, separates this species from most other songbirds in its habitat. The hidden chestnut undertail patch is diagnostic when present, distinguishing it from other all-gray birds.

Sexes look alike. Juveniles are similarly gray but slightly duller and softer in texture. One complete molt occurs annually after breeding.

Gray Catbirds breed across much of the temperate United States and southern Canada in dense shrubby habitat, and winter in the southeastern United States, Central America, and the Caribbean. Most populations are migratory.

This species is named for its distinctive cat-like mewing call and also sings a long, varied warbling song that incorporates mimicry, though less extensively than the Northern Mockingbird. It tends to skulk in dense cover rather than perch in the open. It feeds on insects and fruit, and builds a cup nest low in dense shrubs. A uniform slate-gray feather, especially one with a rufous undertail patch, is a strong match for this species.