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Catbird. White-eared catbird. Gray catbird. A gray catbird voicing cat-like sounds at Wildwood Preserve Metropark, Ohio, US. Several unrelated groups of songbirds are called catbirds because of their wailing calls, which resemble a cat 's meowing. The genus name Ailuroedus likewise is from the Greek for 'cat-singer' or 'cat-voiced'.
A gray catbird's song is easily distinguished from that of the northern mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos) or brown thrasher (Toxostoma rufum) because the mockingbird repeats its phrases or "strophes" three to four times, the thrasher usually twice, but the catbird sings most phrases only once. The catbird's song is usually described as more raspy ...
axilla. Also, axillar region; "underarm"; "armpit". The "armpit" of a bird, often hosting covert feathers called axillaries.[25] axillaries. Also, axillary feathers; lower humeral coverts; hypopteron. Covert feathers found in the axillar region or "armpit" of a bird, which are typically long, stiff and white in colour.
According to Douglas Harper's Online Etymological Dictionary, the phrase refers to the gray catbird and was used in the 19th century in the American South. [1]According to the Oxford English Dictionary, [2] the first documented use occurred in a 1942 humorous short story by James Thurber titled "The Catbird Seat", [3] which features a character, Mrs. Barrows, who likes to use the phrase.
The black catbird ( Melanoptila glabrirostris) is a songbird species in the monotypic genus Melanoptila, part of the family Mimidae. At 19–20.5 cm (7.5–8.1 in) in length and 31.6–42 g (1.11–1.48 oz) in mass, it is the smallest of the mimids. Sexes appear similar, with glossy black plumage, black legs and bill, and dark brownish eyes.
The green catbird ( Ailuroedus crassirostris) is a species of bowerbird found in subtropical forests along the east coast of Australia, from southeastern Queensland to southern New South Wales. It is named after its distinctive call which sounds like a cat meowing, although it has also been mistaken for a crying child.
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The two most studied species, the green catbird and satin bowerbird, have life expectancies of around eight to ten years [10] and one satin bowerbird has been known to live for twenty-six years. [11] For comparison, the common raven , the heaviest passerine species with significant banding records, has not been known to live longer than 21 years.