Breeding Location:
Forest edge, Bushes, shrubs, and thickets
Breeding Type:
Monogamous, Solitary nester
Breeding Population:
Egg Color:
Dark blue green
Number of Eggs:
2 - 6
Incubation Days:
12 - 13
Egg Incubator:
Female
Nest Material:
Lined with fine material., Grasses., Twigs
Migration:
Migratory
Recommended Products:
General
Gray Catbird: Small, shy, dark gray mockingbird with black cap and red-brown undertail coverts. Bill, legs, and feet are black. Sexes are similar. Juvenile is gray-brown above with slate-gray crown.
Range and Habitat
Gray Catbird: Breeds from southern Canada to central New Mexico and the Gulf states and in Bermuda. Most spend winters in the southeastern U.S., Panama, and the West Indies, but some winter north to Minnesota and southeastern Canada. Prefers low, dense vegetation or vine tangles at the edges of forests, marshes, and streams; does not occur in forest interiors. Suburban landscapes often contain good habitat for this species.
Breeding and Nesting
Gray Catbird: Two to six dark blue green eggs are laid in a nest made of twigs and grass, lined with finer materials, and built in a dense shrub or low tree. Incubation ranges from 12 to 13 days and is carried out by the female.
Foraging and Feeding
Gray Catbird: Feeds mostly on insects such as beetles, caterpillars, cicadas, crickets, grasshoppers, moths, ants, and aphids; also eats spiders, fruits, berries, and seeds; forages on the ground or in shrubs and low trees.
Readily Eats
Suet, Sunflower Seed, Nuts
Vocalization
Gray Catbird: Song is a cat-like meow; often sings at night. Call is a quiet "mew" or harsh "quit" or "chack"; imitates calls of jays, kingfishers, swallows, grosbeaks, and other songbirds.
Similar Species
Gray Catbird: None in range.
.