While Eddie’s been horsing around back in Illinois (kidding!), I’ve found a hotspot of birds right outside my window in Ohio. Work’s been keeping me from any major birding lately, so it is nice to do a little birding from home.
This past May, I was delighted to see both Gray Catbird and Brown Thrasher hanging out in the yard. But by early June it seemed the thrashers had moved on. Every time I thought I heard the thrasher again, eventually I would hear the distinct “mew” of the catbird. Hmm…
The yard show has recently been “Catbirds Gone Wild”: mating, calling and chasing. The catbirds are great at convincing new birders that birding is really fun! They even call in total darkness (very late at night). Sun, rain, or thunderstorm – it doesn’t seem to make a difference.
Gray Catbird
Enjoying the varied mimicry, I whistled a note to copy one of (the catbird’s?) songs and there he was – popping up a few feet from the window. Brown Thrasher! Simutaneously, I heard a Gray Catbird out further in the yard. Ha! I knew it!
Brown Thrasher
There are at least three Gray Catbirds and two Brown Thrashers living (nesting?) nearby. I am not sure how the competition is with each other, but they seem to coexist in relative closeness.
Now to see some babies. Good June birding everyone!!!
More nesting yard birds:
- Killdeer (broken wing display near road)
- House Sparrow (nest seen)
- Chipping Sparrow (nest seen)
- Yellow Warbler (carrying food)
- American Robin (carrying food)
- Common Grackle (carrying food)
- European Starling (carrying food)
- Brown-headed Cowbird (lurking)
Yellow Warbler
We had a gray catbird around here for a while a couple of years back, but I’ve never seen one here again. Not sure what happened there.