{"id":68304,"date":"2020-04-12T05:21:30","date_gmt":"2020-04-12T11:21:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=68304"},"modified":"2024-12-20T07:14:22","modified_gmt":"2024-12-20T13:14:22","slug":"my-first-of-year-gray-catbird-heard-but-not-seen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/04\/12\/my-first-of-year-gray-catbird-heard-but-not-seen\/","title":{"rendered":"My First Of Year Gray Catbird – Heard But Not Seen"},"content":{"rendered":"

On April 2nd in a canyon in some mountains of the West Desert of Utah I heard a familiar call, the mewing call of a Gray Catbird while I was looking for birds to photograph. It was just two brief calls but they were clear enough for me to say “Catbird” bird out loud.<\/p>\n

\"AdultAdult Gray Catbird with a berry in its bill \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1250, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

On that trip out to the West Desert I was so focused on photographing Wild Turkeys<\/span><\/a> including getting better photos of a smoke phase hen<\/span><\/a> that I nearly forgot about hearing those two catbird calls. That is until I went back to the same area and heard the calls of a Gray Catbird again on April 10th.<\/p>\n

It is early to be seeing or hearing Gray Catbirds here in northern Utah but I am confident that I heard what I heard. I’d know that mew call<\/span><\/a> anywhere so I am counting it as my first of year Gray Catbird even though I never laid eyes on the bird.<\/p>\n

I photographed the adult Gray Catbird in the photo above in a canyon in the Wasatch Mountains in June of 2018. The catbird was feasting on Black Twinberry berries near a creek next to a dirt road.<\/p>\n

I know that before long Gray Catbirds will be singing on top of shrubs, bushes and trees to attract mates for the breeding season, I just hope I’ll be able to get out and photograph them.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good. Stay safe.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/a><\/span> to see more of my Gray Catbird photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On April 2nd in a canyon in some mountains of the West Desert of Utah I heard a familiar call, the mewing call of a Gray Catbird while I was looking for birds to photograph.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":137986,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,3605,1731,26,773],"tags":[4004,6666,7227,6603,4935,3940,6559,6558,3607,3606,9620,6600,9622,821,4069,5906,4926,165,9621],"class_list":["post-68304","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-gray-catbirds","category-summit-county-utah","category-utah","category-wasatch-mountains","tag-adult","tag-berry","tag-black-twinberry","tag-black-twinberry-honeysuckle","tag-call","tag-canyon","tag-catbird","tag-catbirds","tag-dumetella-carolinensis","tag-gray-catbird","tag-grey-catbird","tag-lonicera-involucrata","tag-mew","tag-mimids-2","tag-mountains","tag-riparian-zone","tag-sounds","tag-spring","tag-twinberry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/gray-catbird-adult-twinberry-mia-mcpherson-8877.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-hLG","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":103346,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/06\/17\/gray-catbird-on-a-stump-in-a-creek\/","url_meta":{"origin":68304,"position":0},"title":"Gray 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Mountains","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"June 2, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Gray Catbirds are related to mockingbirds and thrashers and are in the family Mimidae and all of them are noted for their vocalizations and their ability to mimic a wide variety of bird songs and calls and human made sounds.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Gray Catbird singing in a stand of willows, Wasatch Mountains, Morgan County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/gray-catbird-singing-mia-mcpherson-4613.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/gray-catbird-singing-mia-mcpherson-4613.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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