Just off the woodchip trail on the south side this evening I caught a glimpse of a gray colored bird making crazy sounds. None of the calls themselves were crazy really but what caught my attention was that they were extremely different from one another and were being made in quick succession by this one bird. It sounded like 20+ birds combined into one. It wouldn't stay in one place for very long and was tough to get a photo of as it bounced around inside thick trees. My field guide confirms that it is a Gray Catbird who are masters at mimicing other birds. Since I've spotted this one singing, I can now recognize their sound. I've likely heard them all the time but would have never guessed that it was just one bird. In later encounters I've listened more closely and can pick out obvious impressions of a Robin, Chickadee and Red-Winged Blackbird.
Very shortly after I heard -then spotted a Baltimore Oriole. Although it's not a great shot, this is definitely better than my last attempt. Again like the Catbird, Orioles seem to stay hidden within high tree tops, rarely coming out to the edge unless they're about to fly over to a different tree. They also have a very unique call that I've come to recognize after seeing them make that sound. Most of my future encounters have involved only hearing them and never actually seeing them. After hearing them a few times I invented my own alphanumeric representation to help me describe to someone else what they sound like. Here goes: C-O2, Oh-Oh, C-Oh-C-O2. (with C as in "see")
Just off the woodchip trail on the south side this evening I caught a glimpse of a gray colored bird making crazy sounds. None of the calls themselves were crazy really but what caught my attention was that they were extremely different from one another and were being made in quick succession by this one bird. It sounded like 20+ birds combined into one. It wouldn't stay in one place for very long and was tough to get a photo of as it bounced around inside thick trees. My field guide confirms that it is a Gray Catbird who are masters at mimicing other birds. Since I've spotted this one singing, I can now recognize their sound. I've likely heard them all the time but would have never guessed that it was just one bird. In later encounters I've listened more closely and can pick out obvious impressions of a Robin, Chickadee and Red-Winged Blackbird. 
Very shortly after I heard -then spotted a Baltimore Oriole. Although it's not a great shot, this is definitely better than my last attempt. Again like the Catbird, Orioles seem to stay hidden within high tree tops, rarely coming out to the edge unless they're about to fly over to a different tree. They also have a very unique call that I've come to recognize after seeing them make that sound. Most of my future encounters have involved only hearing them and never actually seeing them. After hearing them a few times I invented my own alphanumeric representation to help me describe to someone else what they sound like. Here goes: C-O2, Oh-Oh, C-Oh-C-O2. (with C as in "see")
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