Photo courtesy of Greg Lavaty

Gray Catbird

Dumetella carolinensis
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Mimidae
Listen:
Sound courtesy of Cornell Lab of Ornithology

Did you know?

In its non-breeding habitat, the Gray Catbird frequently forages among epiphytes such as orchids, ferns, and lichens, which grow on host trees in the forest canopy. Removing epiphytes from the trees is a common management practice in many shade coffee plantations, and this may reduce important sources of food for the catbird.

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General Description

The Gray Catbird is a medium-sized songbird with a plain appearance and a colorful personality. The catbird is a uniform slate gray with a black tail and cap and rufous undertail coverts. Like its relatives in the mockingbird family, the catbird engages in an odd variety of both harsh and musical vocalizations and often mimics other birds. The characteristic "meow," vaguely cat-like, is responsible for the bird"s name. In spite of their usual diet of fruit and insects, catbirds visiting bird feeders have been known to take a bizarre assortment of food including doughnuts, cheese, boiled potato, and corn flakes!

The catbird"s ability to recognize eggs of the parasitic Brown-headed Cowbird is one of the factors that contributes to its breeding success. Cowbird eggs laid in catbird nests are promptly punctured and ejected.

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Habitat & Migration

The Gray Catbird's expansive breeding range extends from Southeastern Canada to the Gulf of Mexico, and into the central United States and even the southcentral and southwestern Canadian provinces. On its North American breeding grounds the Gray Catbird often forages on the forest floor or in low brushy undergrowth, and it typically nests in shrubs or small trees.

Non-breeding (wintering) months are spent in the southernmost parts of the U.S. Gulf Coast, the Caribbean, the Atlantic slopes of Mexico into Guatemala and further into Central America, and the northern reaches of Colombia. Once on its non-breeding grounds, this bird seems to use more forested habitat than on its breeding grounds; in tropical Central America, the catbird can be found in rainforest, forested riparianMoist habitats with trees and shrubs along streams and rivers.
More... areas, shade coffee plantations, and citrus groves. Catbirds wintering in Mexico occurred with high frequency in the humid evergreen forests of the southern Yucatan; overall, catbirds in Mexico were observed in various habitat types ranging from shrubby brush to evergreen forest and were considered habitat generalists.

There are some populations along the Gulf Coast that do not migrate. Migrating Gray Catbirds, however, move south across the Gulf of Mexico after leaving their northern breeding grounds in late August and early September. The birds arrive in the Yucatan Peninsula and Central America in early to mid-October. In the spring, catbirds leave their non-breeding grounds in March and April, and arrive at their most distant breeding grounds in British Columbia in late May and early June. Migration takes place mostly during the night, and Gray Catbirds tend to fly especially low, thus increasing their risks of collisions with towers, cars, and buildings during this long journey.

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The Coffee Connection

The Gray Catbird is known to utilize shade coffee plantations on its non-breeding grounds in Central America, including the Dominican Republic, Guatamala, and Mexico. Although the catbird forages in a variety of locations ranging from the ground to the treetops, it most commonly occupies brushy shrubs and the lower canopyThe uppermost layer in forest habitat.
More... where it feeds on a variety of fruits and insects. The catbird"s diet varies according to the season; insects are more commonly consumed in the breeding season, while fruit is a staple during the non-breeding season.

At El Triunfo Biosphere Reserve in southern Mexico, researchers analyzed a variety of habitats including cloud forest, rainforest, rusticThe coffee-growing system in which the original tree layer is left intact and coffee bushes replace the original undergrowth.
More... shade coffee, monocultureThe cultivation of a single crop, such as coffee, on a farm or in a region. Also may refer to the planting of one tree species to provide shade cover for a crop.
More... shade coffee, and sun coffeeCoffee grown without the cover of a forest canopy or planted shade. This usually requires intense management and chemical inputs.
More.... The Gray Catbird was observed only in rustic coffee. In eastern Chiapas, Mexico, the Gray Catbird was found in roughly equal numbers in both rustic coffee plantations and managed shade coffee dominated by IngaFlowering tropical trees commonly used to provide shade in coffee plantations. Some shade coffee birds use Inga flowers and nectar.
More... trees. A study of shade coffee in central Guatemala documented that the species was most common in shrubby thickets and remnant forestA patch of forest left after the area has been cleared for other purposes.
More..., followed by shade coffee, but was not seen at all in sun coffee plantations.

One factor that could determine the suitability of shade coffee for the Gray Catbird is the presence of epiphytesPlants that grow harmlessly on other plants - usually trees - rather than in the ground.
More... such as orchids, ferns, and lichens. These plants grow on host trees in the forest canopy and gather nutrients from the air and rainfall. Gray Catbirds were observed foraging in epiphytes about fifty percent of the time. Farmers will often remove these plants from the host trees in shade coffee plantations. This style of canopy management may eliminate important sources of food for the catbird as well other species that rely on epiphytes.

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Conservation Status

The Gray Catbird is currently a common species throughout much of its range. The International Union for Conservation of NatureA global environment network which publishes a "Red List" indicating the conservation status of plants and animals. Status on the “Red List” increases from Least Concern to Near Threatened to Vulnerable to Endangered to Critically Endangered.
More... (IUCN) lists the global conservation status of the Gray Catbird as "Least Concern." While the overall population of the Gray Catbird appears relatively stable, regional changes of some significance have been noted. According to the North American Breeding Bird Survey, catbird populations are decreasing somewhat in the Northeastern and Southern U.S., but are increasing in the West. In areas showing declines, these declines often became more pronounced after 1980. More study is needed to understand these trends.

Collisions with towers, cars and other man-made hazards are ongoing causes of mortality during migration. Rapid development in coastal areas, which constitute much of the catbird's non-breeding range, reduces habitat and could be responsible for some population decline. The Gray Catbird shows distinct regional differences in its habitat preferences; since forested habitats appear to be more important to the Gray Catbird during the non-breeding season, this bird may be vulnerable to forest clearing in Central America.

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