{"id":1788,"date":"2019-10-02T12:00:04","date_gmt":"2019-10-02T12:00:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lafayettepark.org\/staging_5\/?p=1788"},"modified":"2021-09-07T03:20:29","modified_gmt":"2021-09-07T03:20:29","slug":"meow-mix-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lafayettepark.org\/staging_5\/meow-mix-up\/","title":{"rendered":"MEOW MIX-UP"},"content":{"rendered":"<h5><strong>BY\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.nextdoornature.org\">KIERAN LINDSEY, PhD<\/a><\/strong><\/h5>\n<h5 style=\"text-align: left;\">I was rather surprised to hear a soft, kittenish mewing as I walked through the park. Sure, I see free-roaming cats around the neighborhood from time to time but I can&#8217;t think of a single instance when I&#8217;ve spotted one in the park during daylight hours, and I&#8217;m in the park at least twice-a-day. As I scanned the underbrush looking for the source, thinking of what I might use to coax a frightened feline to come out, come out, wherever it was, I realized with relief that I wouldn\u2019t have to make a trip to the animal shelter after all.\u00a0 It\u2019s been a long time since I heard a Gray Catbird (<em>Dumetella carolinensis<\/em>), and never was I more thrilled by a tune in the trees than on that Sunday morning.<\/h5>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/XqtigoZ6NBg\" width=\"740\" height=\"416\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><span style=\"display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;\" data-mce-type=\"bookmark\" class=\"mce_SELRES_start\"><span style=\"display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;\" data-mce-type=\"bookmark\" class=\"mce_SELRES_start\">\ufeff<\/span>\ufeff<\/span><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h5>Their cat-call (you can hear it at about the 13 second mark in the video above) may be the world\u2019s easiest to recognize&#8230; or perhaps it&#8217;s the easiest to misinterpret. Still, once you\u2019ve heard that \u201cmeow\u201d you won\u2019t wonder another minute how the catbird caught its moniker. Like their relatives, the mockingbirds and thrashers, these birds are able to copy other sounds and string them together to create a clever mash-up. But their signature song isn\u2019t a case of mimicry\u2014its all their own, shared by every member of the species.<\/h5>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1790 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.lafayettepark.org\/staging_5\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/gray-catbird-by-budgora-ccl-by-nc-nd-2.0.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"738\" \/><\/p>\n<h5>Now that my ears have been re-tuned, I\u2019ve been hearing and seeing catbirds all over town. That\u2019s one more reason to be happy this spring, because this species has been in decline recently in some North American regions. You\u2019d never know it here in Saint Louis this year, though, where it sounds to me like entire litters of catbirds are on the prowl.<\/h5>\n<h5>If not for that distinctive call, you might not even notice these secretive birds. They don&#8217;t like to cross open areas so they stick to the thickets and understory, moving in quick hops and short flights through dense vegetation as they search for insects and berries. At first glance, a catbird\u2019s plumage is unremarkable. But look again and you\u2019ll see a perky black cap and tail accessorizing that gray flannel suit. Look even closer and you\u2019ll see a glowing red-orange patch just beneath the tail. That bright flash of pigment always takes me by surprise and makes me laugh\u2014it\u2019s like catching a glimpse of a colorful thong or boxers peeking out of a staid business suit!<\/h5>\n<h5>Learn more about <span style=\"color: #339966;\"><a style=\"color: #339966;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.lafayettepark.org\/staging_5\/birding-in-la\">the birds who call Lafayette Park home<\/a><\/span>!<\/h5>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1791 size-large aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.lafayettepark.org\/staging_5\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/gray-catbird-by-jerry-oldenettel-cc-1024x782.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"782\" \/><\/p>\n<h5><em><strong>\u00a9<\/strong>\u00a02018 Next-Door Nature, Sidewalk Zendo. Reprints welcomed with written permission from the author.\u00a0Thanks to the following photographers for making their work available through the Creative Commons license: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/pictiurfear\/2582355360\/\">Brendan Lally<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/albertovo5\/4573763240\/\">Alberto_VO5<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/hikerboy45\/2529621750\/\">Hal Trachtenberg<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/dagberg\/33488205504\/\">Doug Greenberg<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/amandaszoo\/4785432774\/\">Amanda<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/zonotrichia\/5731057311\/\">Ken Schneider<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/rosiejuliet\/43415322241\/\">marneejill<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/kcarver\/5935371236\/\">Keith Carver<\/a>.<\/em><\/h5>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>BY\u00a0KIERAN LINDSEY, PhD I was rather surprised to hear a soft, kittenish mewing as I walked through the park. 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