Gray Catbird Photos

Photography by Terry Sohl

My Favorite: We live across the street from the Big Sioux Recreation Area in Brandon, South Dakota, and there's nothing I love more than walking through the park in May. That's generally the peak of songbird migration, and when summer residents arrive and set up shop in the park. That includes plenty of Gray Catbirds! They seem to really like the sumac bushes in the early spring, and I love this photo because it typifies where I see them, and also very clearly shows their trademark identifying features (black cap, rusty colored undertail).

Gray Catbird - Dumetella carolinensis


Gray Catbird 1	Gray Catbird 2	Gray Catbird 3	Gray Catbird 4
July 23rd, 2006	May 15th, 2005	July 3rd, 2017	May 15th, 2005
Beaver Creek Nature Area, South Dakota	Outdoor Campus, Sioux Falls, South Dakota	Minnehaha County, South Dakota	Outdoor Campus, Sioux Falls, South Dakota
Profile of partially shaded bird in summer	Spring catbird in profile, showing rusty rump	Catbird perched on a dead tree branch	Fluffed up catbird on a cold morning

Gray Catbird 5	Gray Catbird 6	Gray Catbird 7	Gray Catbird 8
July 18th, 2005	May 27th, 2008	May 27th, 2008	May 21st, 2008
Minnehaha County, South Dakota	Big Sioux Recreation Area, South Dakota	Big Sioux Recreation Area, South Dakota	Big Sioux Recreation Area, South Dakota
Inquisitive catbird on a tree branch	Catbird sitting on a blooming sumac	Catbird profile on sumac, showing chestnut rump	Vertical of catbird on a tree branch

Gray Catbird 9	Gray Catbird 10	Gray Catbird 11	Gray Catbird 12
July 20th, 2008	May 21st, 2009	July 2009	July 2009
Kingsbury County, South Dakota	Big Sioux Recreation Area, South Dakota	Big Sioux Recreation Area, South Dakota	Big Sioux Recreation Area, South Dakota
Catbird perched on a fallen log	Bird perched on top of a blooming sumac	Vertical of catbird clinging to a branch	Singing catbird on a tree branch

Gray Catbird 13	Gray Catbird 14	Gray Catbird 15	Gray Catbird 16
May 2011	May 17th, 2011	May 17th, 2011	May 22nd, 2011
Big Sioux Recreation Area, South Dakota	Big Sioux Recreation Area, South Dakota	Big Sioux Recreation Area, South Dakota	Big Sioux Recreation Area, South Dakota
Sumac in morning sun on a sumac bush	Vertical of a catbird on a sumac bush	And again, a catbird on sumac. Starting to think they like sumac. :-)	Profile of a catbird on a tree branch

Gray Catbird 17	Gray Catbird 18	Gray Catbird 19	Gray Catbird 20
May 15th, 2014	May 21st, 2020	May 13th, 2017	May 6th, 2020
Brandon, South Dakota	Outdoor Campus, Sioux Falls, South Dakota	Newton Hills State Park, South Dakota	Brandon, South Dakota
Gray Catbird in a crabapple tree	Catbird posing on a wooden fence	Catbird on a budding tree in the spring	Catbird perched on a slab of Sioux quartzite