I’m always so happy to see a Gray Catbird! They’re frequently heard but not seen as their dark colors blend in with the shadows of their habitat.
“Rather plain but with lots of personality, the Gray Catbird often hides in the shrubbery, making an odd variety of musical and harsh sounds,” (Audubon.org). A dark gray bird with a black cap, the Catbird lives in dense woods and thickets and can be found throughout much of the US east of the Rockies, and into Central America (All About Birds). I personally think they are quite handsome and, lucky for us, they like Florida! This amazing (Gray Catbird) Abundance Map from ebird shows where they are when!
Their scratchy, cat-like mewing calls are a “mixture of sweet to melodious, thin to squeaky, and sometimes abrasive phrases mixed with pauses” (Smithsonian Handbooks, Birds of Florida, 2002). If you hear a Gray Catbird, you really aren’t quite sure it’s actually a bird!
The Catbird‘s sounds “include whistles, squeaks, gurgles, whines, and nasal tones. The notes often are imitations of other birds as well as of frogs and mechanical sounds.” Listen here to note the curious difference between their more melodious songs and their cat-like calls.
Birder's Journey 
What a beautiful bird! Wishing you a Happy New Year.
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Agreed, beautiful! Thanks and happy new year to you, too!
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Awesome sighting! It’s a good looking bird. One I’ve never seen.
Happy New Year, BJ!
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Glad I could introduce you to the gray catbird, Deborah! Hope you have the chance to see one someday. ☺️
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They are hard to catch like this. Nicely done.
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Thanks, Ted! I saw – and heard – so many of them that morning at Corkscrew Swamp, but was just lucky to capture this guy on my way out.
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Corkscrew will always give you something good 😃.
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So true!! I love the place. Only wish it was closer than 2 hours away.
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If the world doesn’t end I would like to stop by this spring. But I said that last year too.
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Lol… hope you can make the trip ☀️😎
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So cute; thank you. r
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So nice to hear from you, Roberta! Do you ever see Gray Catbirds where you are?
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Great photographs! I think it’s a sleek, handsome bird, a little like a grey version of our blackbird in the UK. (Blackbirds are my favourites, along with robins.)
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Thanks so much Ann! ‘Sleek’…. Now that’s a great adjective to describe this good looking fellow.
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Who knew? It’s a bird whose beauty is sweeter than its sound.
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Luckily, the Gray Catbird also has a repertoire of songs, too, which are quite lovely. Reminds me a bit of a Mockingbird.
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I want to see (hear!) one when we’re down there!
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I hope we can! Can’t wait! We should try looking & listening at Loxahatchee! ☀️
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I’m down!
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Great shots BJ ! Our catbirds are also human shy and easily hide being green and can be right next to you without you knowing. Our birds actually sound like cats howling, or baby crying, which caused a lot of concern for early English settlers, as they would go out at night looking for a woman or baby in distress.
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What an interesting bit of history, AB!
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Nice shots, Carol! I see these often, raiding our row of blueberries and, of course, hear them with their varied cries in the nearby woods.
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Thank you, Steve. I was a little surprised to discover how widespread they are across much of the U. S.
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I know them well. They migrate in winter.
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They’re apparently here all year except for summer, but I read in many places that they like “to winter in Florida”. 😎
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