Search Wildlife
≡
Photo by Jim Parrish
Photo Copyright Jim Parrish
Gray Catbird
Dumetella carolinensis
NatureServe conservation status
Global (G-rank): G5
State (S-rank): S1?B
- Reason: 11 historical breeding occurrences of this species in in north-central and northeastern Utah are known. It has declined greatly in abundance in Utah.
External links
General information
The gray catbird, Dumetella carolinensis, breeds across most of the United States and in southern Canada. It winters in Central America, as well as along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the United States. Old record suggest that the species may have once been common in Utah, but it is now rare in the state, breeding only in a few limited areas of north-central Utah. The gray catbird prefers dense shrublands and forested areas with thick undergrowth.
Nests are built in brush or low in trees, usually less than ten feet above the ground. This species is often double-brooded; each clutch typically contains four eggs. The female alone incubates the eggs, which hatch in about two weeks. Both parents attend to the young; the young leave the nest at approximately two weeks of age. This species eats insects, spiders, seeds, and fruits.
Species range
This species is of local occurrence "in central northern and northeastern Utah at lower elevations" and "[k]nown to breed only in Parleys and Provo Canyons and Heber Valley in northern Utah" (Behle et al. 1985). There are old records of nesting in Uintah County (Twomey 1942, Behle 1981). Historical breeding occurrences of this species in Utah are known in Salt Lake, Utah, Wasatch, and Uintah counties.
Migration
Long-distance migrant throughout most of interior U.S. and Canada; migrations of coastal populations may be more localized. Common migrant in Costa Rica occasionally early September but not common before mid-October through mid-November; remain through late April or early May (Stiles and Skutch 1989).
Habitat
Twomey (1942, repeated by Behle 1981) reported nesting of this species in "dense thickets . . . near . . . marshes" in northeastern Utah and referred to an earlier report of this species in the same area but "in the woods around the marshes." Woodbury et al. (1949) stated that in Utah this species breeds "in dense thickets of streamside or other shrubbery from 4500 to 7000 feet altitude." Hayward et al. (1976) said that in Utah this species "lives in thickets along the lower valley streams or ditch banks and in similar habitats around dwellings and parks." Behle (1981) wrote of this species in northeastern Utah: "Found in lowland valleys in brushy areas and willow thickets along streams." Walters and Sorensen (1983) considered breeding and migrating habitats of this species in Utah to be montane riparian woodlands (including narrow-leafed cottonwood, big-toothed maple, box elder, river birch, dogwood, alder, willows, etc., at lower [sic] elevations) and desert riparian woodlands (including Fremont cottonwood, willows, etc., at lower elevations). Behle et al. (1985) stated that this species is a summer resident "at lower elevations where it inhabits brushy areas along streams as well as thickets in parks, cemeteries and residential areas of cities."
Food habits
Eats insects and other invertebrates and small fruits (Terres 1980) and arillate seeds (Stiles and Skutch 1989). Picks insects from leaves and branches, sometimes from the ground.
Ecology
Sometimes in loose flocks in migration; scattered sedentary individuals in winter (Costa Rica, Stiles and Skutch 1989). Territorial in nonbreeding season in Mexico (Rappole and Warner 1980).
Reproductive characteristics
Clutch size is 2-6 (usually 4). Incubation, by female, lasts 12-15 days. Young are tended by both parents, leave nest at 10-15 days. Often two broods per year.
Threats or limiting factors
Threats to this species in Utah are not known. Loss of riparian habitat may be a threat.
References
- Biotics Database. 2005. Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, NatureServe, and the network of Natural Heritage Programs and Conservation Data Centers.
- Peterson, R. T., and V. M. Peterson. 1990. A field guide to western birds, 3rd ed. Houghton Mifflin, Boston. 432 pp.
