Gray Catbird - Species Profile
Conservation • Description • Habitat • Ecology • Distribution • Taxonomy
Conservation Status
IUCN Red List
LC - Least Concern
NatureServe
N5B, N5N - Secure Breeding and Nonbreeding
SNRB - Unranked Breeding
Minnesota
not listed
Description
Gray Catbird is a chunky, medium-sized, perching bird. They are present in Minnesota from May through mid-October. They winter in the southeastern United States, Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean. The oldest recorded lifespan is of a bird in captivity is 17 years and 10 months.
Adults are 8¼″ to 9½″ long, weigh .8 ounce to 2 ounces, and have a wingspan of 8¾″ to 12″.
The wings, back, chest, and belly are slate gray. The bird often displays a raised tail when perched. The tail feathers are slate gray or dark gray above, black with pale edges below. The undertail coverts are chestnut brown. The legs and feet are black.
The head is slate gray with a black crown and forehead. The bill is short, slender, and black. The eyes are black.
Males and females are alike in size and appearance. They can be distinguished only by behavior in Breeding season.
Size
Total length: 8½″ to 9″
Wingspan: 11″
Voice
Similar Species
Gray Jay (Perisoreus canadensis) has a white forehead, cheek, and throat. It does not have a black crown or chestnut undertail coverts.
Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos) has a pale throat, chest, and belly. The wings are dark with two white wing bars. It does not have a black crown, black forehead, or chestnut undertail coverts.
Townsend’s Solitaire (Myadestes townsendi) has buffy wing patches and a white eye ring. It does not have a black crown, black forehead, or chestnut undertail coverts.
Habitat
Dense, deciduous, woodland thickets, forest edges
Ecology
Migration
Early May to mid-October
Nesting
Gray Catbirds usually have two broods per season. Breeding begins soon after the adults reach the Breeding territory in April. The female builds a nest, sometimes with the male supplying materials, usually on a horizontal branch near the center of a dense shrub or small tree.
The female lays usually 3 or 4, but as few as 1 or as many as 5, turquoise-colored eggs. The eggs hatch after 12 to 14 days. The young leave the nest after 10 or 11 days.
Diet
Fruit, seeds, insects, and other invertebrates.
Distribution
Occurrence
Common migrant and breeder. Occasional in early winter, but mostly in the south.
Maps
The Minnesota Ornithologists’ Union All Seasons Species Occurrence Map
Taxonomy
Class
Aves (Birds)
Order
Passeriformes (Perching Birds)
Family
Mimidae (Mockingbirds and Thrashers)
Genus
Dumetella (Catbirds)
Subordinate Taxa
Synonyms
Dumetella bermudianus
Dumetella carolinensis bermudianus
Dumetella carolinensis carolinensis
Dumetella felivox
Galeoscoptes carolinensis
Muscicapa carolinensis
Turdus felivox
