Scientific Name:   Dumetella carolinensis

Length:   8.3-9.4 in (21-24 cm)

Weight:   0.8-2.0 oz (23.2-56.5 g)

Wingspan:   8.7-11.8 in (22-30 cm)

Nest:   The nests are in dense shrubs, thickets, briar tangles, or low trees, usually 3-10' above the ground. It is a large bulky cup of twigs, weeds, grass, leaves, and sometimes pieces of trash, lined with rootlets and other fine materials.

Eggs:   4, sometimes 3-5, rarely 2-6. Greenish blue, rarely with some red spots. Incubation is by female only, about 12-13 days.

Feeding Behavior:   Gray catbirds are omnivores, and approximately 50% of their diet is fruit and berries. They tend to peck more fruit than they can eat. They also eat mealworms, earthworms, beetles, and other bugs. In summer, gray catbirds will eat mostly ants, beetles, grasshoppers, caterpillars, and moths. They also eat holly berries, cherries, elderberries, poison ivy, bay, and blackberries.

Young:   Both parents feed the nestlings. Young leave the nest about 10-11 days after hatching. 2 broods per year.

Range:   Native to most of temperate North America east of the Rocky Mountains, gray catbirds migrate to the southeastern United States, Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean in winter. They prefer a dense vegetative substrate, especially if thorny vegetation is present. Scrublands, woodland edges, overgrown farmland and abandoned orchards are generally among the preferred locations of the catbird.

Brief Description:   Gray catbirds are plain lead gray almost all over. The top of the head is darker. The undertail coverts are rust-colored, and the remiges and rectrices are black, some with white borders. The slim bill, the eyes, and the legs and feet are also blackish. A medium-sized, slender songbird with a long, rounded, black tail and a narrow, straight bill. Catbirds are fairly long legged and have broad, rounded wings.