Don’t underestimate Catbirds. Like many migratory bird species, if you have Catbirds in your area, and your habitat is good for them, they may loyally return year after year. Catbirds are seen in large parts of North America and coastal areas of Central America.This Catbird grabbed some insects in the grass from a driveway reflector used as a perch. Eating Like A Bird -- whatever works.

Migration of Catbirds has been studied and documented through bird-banding and geolocator research which has revealed fascinating facts about the movement of Catbirds. The geo-tracking science tells us that if a Catbird breeds, or spends its spring/summer in the Midwest US, it probably winters in Central America. If it breeds in the US Mid-Atlantic region, it probably winters in Florida or the Caribbean. That means this neighborhood Catbird I photographed this past summer probably spent the winter in Florida or the Caribbean – strong and smart!  

Catbirds eat insects; and they love peanuts and berries. The Conservation and Biology Institute at the Smithsonian National Zoo in Washington, DC has an ongoing study of Gray Catbirds to better understand this common migratory bird that breeds in human-dominated urban and suburban landscapes. Birds are being tagged in the greater Washington, D.C., area, Massachusetts, Georgia and Colorado to better understand how diverse breeding habitats (including urban environments) influence when birds leave, where they stop and where they winter on their long migratory journeys. The birds are banded and tagged with lightweight GPS backpacks that take highly accurate points throughout winter and during fall and spring migration.

Catbirds get their name from their vocalizations, which can be numerous, but sometimes sound like a cat. Because Catbirds are often urban birds, the human noises they’re exposed to such as traffic, construction and ringing cell phones, shape the acoustic environment and may impact the effectiveness of courtship songs of males and the signals preferred by females.

Read more about this blog here: https://www.copperrangellc.com/blog/2020/12/eating-like-a-bird.

More information:

https://bioone.org/journals/the-auk/volume-128/issue-3/auk.2011.11091/Estimating-Migratory-Connectivity-of-Gray-Catbirds-Dumetella-carolinensis-using-Geolocator/10.1525/auk.2011.11091.full

https://nationalzoo.si.edu/migratory-birds/gray-catbirds

https://blog.nature.org/science/2015/06/10/consider-catbird-surprising-secrets-common-backyard-birds/