by zteve t evans

Created on: October 31, 2009

The Gray, or Grey, catbird (Dumetella carolinensis)

The Gray Catbird is often found in thickets and belongs to the genus Dumetella which in Latin means 'small thicket.' They are related to thrashers and mockingbirds and have similar vocal traits and abilities.

Songs and communication

They will mimic the songs of other birds and rearrange them creating their own song. Catbird's songs can last for as long as 10 minutes and different tones and notes may be used to communicate presence, lay claim to territory and attract mates.

Description

These songbirds are medium sized with quite long legs and wide rounded wings. They have a long black tail that is rounded with a rust coloured patch underneath. Their beaks are straight and thin and their heads are black on top. They have a mostly slate grey body though lighter underneath.

Habitat

Gray catbirds prefer a habitat of thick shrubs, tangled vines and bushes and dense thickets of trees. They will take to overgrown hedgerows on farmland and along the roadside and in residential areas. They winter in tropical grounds and have a tendency then to spend more time in forests they would in North America.

Food

Their summer diet consists mostly of insects such as midges, beetles, grasshoppers and ants, and they will eat moths and caterpillars. They also like fruit when available and eat cherries, holly berries, elderberries, poison ivy, bay and blackberries. With their liking for fruit they can cause serious damage to gardens especially cultivated fruits such as grapes, raspberries, strawberries and cherries.

Nesting

The nesting site is often hidden amid dense horizontal branches of shrubs, bushes vines or thickets of young trees and can be between 4 and 60 feet from the ground. Nests are built by the female which take the form of an open cup made from local materials such as bark, mud, straw, twigs, and lined with soft grass or hair.

Behaviour

During spring and summer the males sing from high perches proclaiming their territory and chasing away rivals of its own kind and sometimes birds of other species. Unlike other birds the Gray catbird male and female will defend their territories during winter. Sometimes they will destroy eggs or kill nestlings of other species of bird in their territory.

Conservation

Gray catbirds are common in most areas though in some south east parts of the USA their numbers have thought to have declined. Human coastal developments for leisure and housing may have depleted their range and there is cause for concern over future developments. They are not regarded as Threatened or Endangered and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature classify them as of Least Concern.

References

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Gray_Catbird/life history

http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/ information/Dumetella_carolinensis.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gray_Catbird

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