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| A Gray Catbird in the brushpile in our back yard, Rockford, IL; 4/30/2011. |
After all the time I spent trying to chase down Gray Catbirds for the past couple of years, one happened to be sitting out in the open in our back yard one weekend at the end of April (Above). Catbirds are very good at hiding in the dense thickets, and because of their dull gray coloring, they are hard to spot. I hear them all the time, but usually I only see small partial glimpses of them, as they sneak around the underbrush feeding on insects and berries trying hard not to be seen.
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| Another blurry Gray Catbird hiding from me, Bauman Park, Rockford, IL; 5/4/2010. |
These Catbirds started arriving to northern Illinois in late April, and once they arrived they inundated the area - all over the place - in the State Parks, the City Parks, and the Forest Preserves. The only problem is they are incognito - all sound, little sight - a head here, a tail there - but a whole body? No way! Most of my pics looked like the one (Above) - an out of focus and a half-hidden bird.
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| A Gray Catbird visited our yard, Rockford, IL; 4/30/2011. |
So it was to my surprise that as I was on the back deck watching something move in the brush pile in the corner of the lot, out pops a Gray Catbird sitting on a railroad tie in the open (Above) and not only that - it stayed there long enough for me to go inside, get my camera, focus and click. Finally a good picture of a Gray Catbird! This picture shows the rufous patch underneath its tail that I seldom get to see.
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| A Gray Catbird, Rock Cut State Park, IL; 5/8/2011. |
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| Gray Catbird, Rock Cut State Park, IL; 5/8/2011. |
Well, wouldn't you know it. After the Catbird visited our backyard, I've been seeing these guys in the open all month (during May), and have several more good pics of it (two Above), and even a series of pics of two Catbirds courting eachother (Below).
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| Two Gray Catbirds flirting, Rock Cut State Park, IL; 5/8/2011. |
6 comments:
Great captures of this elusive bird!
They are daily visitors in my yard. They love the Blueberries I put out.
Moline, Illinois
I have a daily catbird in our backyard . I am just outside Springfield Illinois . Took me a while to figure out what it was and to get a pic as it stays close to the brush .
Just saw one in my yard, 40 miles west of Chicago.
I'm in DeKalb and I'm pretty sure this is the bird I saw today. There were three of them hanging out in a cluster of shrubs. I never noticed them before in the several years I've owned this property. All gray, the back seemed darker than the breast, with a noticeable dark strip of feathers on the top of the head.
If you keep a fresh birdbath, you’ll see them a lot. I’m near the Rockford area and we have them coming and going all day long. Very sweet birds.
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