Gray CatbirdThere often seems to be a bird lurking in the nearby brush making odd sounds and sometimes seeming to follow you but you can't quite get a good view of it. You see a bird fly between branches but still can't get a good view of it. You see some gray but thats about it, then it flies off.Odds are its a Gray Catbird. There aren't too many gray birds that skulk through the bushes like Gray Catbirds. They prefer to lurk inside the bush where its often quite dark - and at this time of year hard to see into. They are easily identified by their cat-like snarl but their song is easily confusable with other songbirds.
When you do get a good view, the black cap and rufous under the tail quickly separates the catbird from most others. Unfortunately, good views of catbirds are fairly hard to come by. It seems that just when you locate the bird and get your binoculars on it, it flies somewhere else. Or maybe thats just how I feel when I aim the camera lens on it. I often joke I can make the birds come out by not bringing my camera with me!
Below left you can see the typical view of the catbird, hiding within the foliage. The lower right photo shows the rufous under-tail, which is often not seen. The top-right and bottom-left photos are of a bird that didn't seem to realize I was there taking its picture. It was very dark under the trees but thanks to digital technology, I was able to lighten the pictures up somewhat.
Gray CatbirdGray Catbird note rufous under-tail
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