Catbird

Catbirds are so secretive that this was the first year I've been able to get a decent picture of them. Earlier in the spring they were nesting in the neighbor's shrub, but now it appears they've moved on to a nearby pine tree. They spent the majority of the day clucking and mewing their warnings at me and our nesting robins, often with a mouthful of food.

Copycat Catbird

Every summer growing up I remember hearing a strange "mew" as part of the regular neighborhood ambient noise. Though I never saw what it was, I figured it was either a squirrel or even a cat. It wasn't until just a few years ago I realized the sound I had been hearing all that time was actually, haha, a catbird!

They can mimic sounds to make their very own song and just today I saw one in the tree sounding like a robin who had not practiced his call enough times. Such a copycat (har, har)!

I've been trying to get a picture of a catbird for several years and finally got it!