"Meow!"

   I was working at my desk when suddenly, on the birdbath just outside my window perched a handsome Gray Catbird (Dumetella carolinensis). This has happened once before, but it is such an uncommon event that I called for Berry to come to the window and see.

Gray Catbird

   The Catbird call sounds like a small kitten. What would be the evolutionary advantage for that? We did not have a camera, but this photo is a good representation of what we saw.

   Berry and I have seen the Gray Catbird several times in the wild. We were peeking through the underbrush on President's Island in Memphis and saw one. We were walking on a wooden boardwalk through a swamp in Florida and saw a flock of them. For birders Gray Catbirds are a delightful find.

Robert

photo courtesy of jsottolano