I’m composing this article today with the basic intention of aiding bird watchers to identify which of these two birds they might have observed: a catbird or a mockingbird.
As many people will tell you, these two birds look so much alike that you’ll need to know the precise details of each to spot one from the other.
From an expert’s point of view, there exists some uncanny resemblances that cannot be avoided because of these birds’ shared family traits.
But their differences are also stark if you know where to look, but I’ll ask you to take some time before reaching a verdict.
So, let’s jump into the identification guide that’s structured as a catbird vs mockingbird debate to widen your horizon of knowledge about these two songbirds!
Contents
Basic Information: Catbird & Mockingbird
We’ll start from the very basics for our discussion concerning catbird and mockingbird differences.
Catbird
Source: @zachvaughanphotography
- Family Name: Mimidae
- Size: 20.5 to 24 cm (8.1 to 9.4 in)
- Locality: North America & Africa
- Status: Least Concern
- Breeding Season: Spring and Summer
You might wonder why these birds are called catbirds. Among the songbirds spreaded all across the world, catbirds actually sound like cats when they sing.
Their genus Ailuroedus is derived from Greek. When translated to English, it reads ‘cat-voiced’ or ‘cat-like singer’, which is a direct reference to their singing nature.
There exists a wide variety of catbirds, among which the most common are Australasian catbirds, New World catbirds and African catbirds. All three categories represent passerine birds.
Mockingbird
Source: @pawstells
- Family Name: Mimidae
- Size: 20.5 to 28 cm (8.1 to 11.0 in)
- Locality: North and South America
- Status: Least Concern
- Breeding Season: Spring and early Summer
The American education and literary system has held the Northern mockingbird as the prime songbird of the country. Its existence in films, books or other artifacts leaves this group as a highly popular bird with great access to every American.
As a songbird, mockingbird has a great talent for mimicking sounds of other birds, insects or animals they can hear. The time of their singing is usually late at night, and mostly around midnight.
Among 17 species of this bird, all of them show significant relevance to the Mimus family traits. There are traces of transmutation and evolution that had been uncovered by Charles Darwin back in 1835.
Initial Identification: Catbird vs Mockingbird
When you’re out in the open to look for these two birds and want to tell one apart from the other, it might take you a while because they look so much alike!
For starters, look for the textured pattern on the back of the bird you’ve spotted. Firstly, take a look at the color accents on the back because mockingbirds usually flaunt a pattern which is absent on the catbird.
Then pay close attention to the shade of the color as mockingbird’s gray is slightly faded than catbird’s. Also, the size matters because mockingbirds are slightly larger in shape.
Mockingbirds roam more frequently out in the open and catbirds are quite hard to spot. These could be the telling point which one you’ve seen based on your experience.
If you’re fortunate to listen to their singing, there are some tempo and pitch differences that you’ll learn in the following sections.
Mockingbird or Catbird? Let’s Learn The Differences!
First things first – let’s get the differences between catbird and mockingbird out of the way in detail so that you can immediately know which of these two birds you’ve witnessed!
Size & Shape
When it comes to the size, catbirds and mockingbirds show great resemblances at the lower end. Both of these birds are at least 8 inches long but mockingbirds tend to grow quite larger than some catbird species. The maximum size of a mockingbird is 11 inches while it’s 9.4 inches for catbirds.
Source: @enchantedlife2013
In terms of colors, catbirds have a wide spectrum with green, gray or similarly faded lighter tones. As opposed to it, mockingbirds show a deep gray tone accented with fine white outlines, both on the wings and on the tail ends.
Source: @lateafternoonbirding
Upon spreading the wings, catbirds come shy of mockingbirds with a maximum of a 12 inches span. For the latter, the spreaded wings measure up to 15 inches, but there’s much to look into when it comes to their weights.
Out of all the species, catbirds don’t weigh higher than 2.0 ounces. But mockingbirds on the other hand can weigh up to 26 pounds, so the size and integrity discrepancy is very apparent here.
Singing
As I mentioned, both of these are songbirds but the sounds they make are very different from one another. Catbirds produce a vocal outcome that highly resembles a cat’s wailing.
Catbird Sound
And the mockingbird mostly creates sounds that are borrowed from neighboring birds, animals, frogs or insects.
Mockingbird Sound
Locality
These two birds do share a common ground when it comes to finding them in abundance, and that’s in North America. However, different genuses of these birds are located in separate regions that mark a difference, with the existence of mockingbird in North America and catbird’s habituation in Africa.
Habitats
Catbirds naturally habitat around wood edges and streams, even in human gardens. Apart from these places, swamps or fields with grasses are their comfort zones too.
Their nesting is usually closer to the ground that goes as high up to a minimum of 4 feet. The nests are usually well concealed and built within foliages, bushes or small trees.
Mockingbirds however prefer living out in the open, by the side of a dense forest is an ideal example. You’ll find these birds perched up looking for prey and they often visit human parks in search of food.
The nests of mockingbirds are much higher than catbirds on average. It ranges between 3 to 10 feet clearance from the ground and can be found around tall bushes.
Vulnerabilities
Both of these birds are faced with threats when they’re out in the open. Apart from predators that lurk around such birds, a lot of the mockingbird species are closing in on extinction due to large scale calamities like bonfire, urbanization and other atmospheric changes.
Similarities Between Catbirds & Mockingbirds
Knowing about their similarities is equally important for you to understand how these two birds behave in and outside of their natural habitat.
Source: @tjschreier
Family
Since catbird and mockingbird both belong to the Mimidae family of the New World birds of passerine nature, there arguably exists a lot of similarities between the two. Apart from their vocalization, the habituation, diet, incubation and characteristics are much closer to one another than with their other family cousins.
Diet
Both catbird and mockingbird show resemblances of a common food diet. Half of their nutrition is gained from seeds or other plantations. The other half is composed of a protein based diet. These are collected from eating insects, grasshoppers, caterpillars, snails, spiders etc.
As per mockingbird younglings, their most usual diet is beetle larvae. Other smaller insects and larvae are fed by their parent birds too. Baby catbirds feast on the same palette, with additions of different worms.
Breeding
These two songbirds share an uncanny similarity when it comes to breeding and incubation. Both of them take around 12-13 days to incubate properly and after the birth of their younglings, the parents take up responsibility of feeding the babies. This similarity lies in the shared family traits of catbirds and mockingbirds.
The main differences between catbird and mockingbird are placed together for your comprehension swiftly.
| Category | Catbird | Mockingbird |
|---|---|---|
| Size | Up to 9.4 inches | Up to 11 inches |
| Shape | Smaller | Larger |
| Color | Darker gray | Paler gray |
| Accent | Doesn’t show accent | Has white accents on edges |
| Locality | Remote, dry and rocky areas | Bushy, humid areas |
| Threats | Predators and deforestation | Forest fire, heat wave |
| Vocalization | Mimicry sounds like cat whaling with higher pitch | Mimicking other birds or animals with a lower tempo and pitch |
FAQ
This FAQ section will tell you much more about catbirds & mockingbirds and their significant traits which are unknown to many bird lovers.
Q: Why is a mockingbird called a catbird?
A: Sometimes you’ll find people mistaking a mockingbird for a catbird due to some resemblances. In Particular, a gray catbird looks very much like a mockingbird in terms of colorization. But the size, tone and vocalization are different, so keen eyes and ears can help you spot the differences.
Q: Why do mockingbirds go after cats?
A: Mockingbirds are very protective of their nest and habitation zone. Any hint of threat should leave them attacking the invader to scare them away. Cats are a known predator that hunts down on mockingbird nests, so it’s not a surprise that mockingbirds go after cats to protect the incubation and baby birds.
Verdict
At the end of all things, it’s time for me to place a verdict. There’s really no winner between these two birds because this is not actually a contest between the two.
Rather, my verdict will be on the key aspects of differences that you MUST remember during the identification procedure, as well as the similarities that can deceive you.
Firstly, noticing the tone of gray color is important for both. If it’s not a gray catbird, then this part should be quite straightforward for you.
There also exists a difference in size since mockingbirds are usually larger than catbirds. The singing can aid you in reaching a verdict, so listen to their callings that I included in this article.
Lastly, treat these birds with care. Although they’re not closing in on extinction, it’s still essential that we ensure a healthy preservation of their natural habitats at all cost.
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Sound Credits: xeno-canto
