catbird

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Related to Catbirds: Dumetella carolinensis

cat·bird

(kăt′bûrd′)

1. A songbird (Dumetella carolinensis) of North and Central America having predominantly slate plumage and a cry like the mew of a cat.

2. Any of various other species of birds having a similar cry, especially one of several birds of Australia and New Guinea related to the bowerbirds.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

catbird

(ˈkætˌbɜːd)

1. (Animals) any of several North American songbirds of the family Mimidae (mockingbirds), esp Dumetella carolinensis, whose call resembles the mewing of a cat

2. (Animals) any of several Australian bowerbirds of the genera Ailuroedus and Scenopoeetes, having a catlike call

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

cat•bird

(ˈkætˌbɜrd)

n.

a songbird with catlike vocalizations, esp. a common slate-colored member of the mockingbird family, Dumetella carolinensis, inhabiting the E and central U.S.

[1700–10]

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Noun	1.	catbird - any of various birds of the Australian region whose males build ornamented structures resembling bowers in order to attract females bowerbird oscine, oscine bird - passerine bird having specialized vocal apparatus family Ptilonorhynchidae, Ptilonorhynchidae - bowerbirds Ptilonorhynchus violaceus, satin bird, satin bowerbird - of southeast Australia; male is glossy violet blue; female is light grey-green Chlamydera nuchalis, great bowerbird - large bowerbird of northern Australia
	2.	catbird - North American songbird whose call resembles a cat's mewing Dumetella carolinensis, gray catbird, grey catbird oscine, oscine bird - passerine bird having specialized vocal apparatus Dumetella, genus Dumetella - catbirds

Translations

uccello gatto

catbird

[ˈkætbɜːd] N to be (sitting) in the catbird seat (US) → sentirse seguro

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

References in classic literature ?

A catbird, the Northern mocker, lit in a tree over Tom's head, and trilled out her imitations of her neighbors in a rapture of enjoyment; then a shrill jay swept down, a flash of blue flame, and stopped on a twig almost within the boy's reach, cocked his head to one side and eyed the strangers with a consuming curiosity; a gray squirrel and a big fellow of the "fox" kind came skurrying along, sitting up at intervals to inspect and chatter at the boys, for the wild things had probably never seen a human being before and scarcely knew whether to be afraid or not.

View in context

"'Tis a strange calling!" muttered Hawkeye, with an inward laugh, "to go through life, like a catbird, mocking all the ups and downs that may happen to come out of other men's throats.

View in context

Wild vines entangled the trees and flaunted in their faces; brambles and briers caught their clothes as they passed; the garter snake glided across their path; the spotted toad hopped and waddled before them; and the restless catbird mewed at them from every thicket.

View in context

Everything from catbirds and kinglets to thrushes and woodpeckers are happy to dine at the Ivy Cafe.

'Leaves of three, let it be'

Now during the summer, robins, catbirds, wrens, grackles, frogs, ducklings, and goslings die off because of contamination of the insects they eat.

Country Homesteads Beware

Green Catbirds were located by traversing walking tracks, with particular attention given to listening for calls.

Feeding ecology of the Green Catbird Ailuroedus crassirostris in the Illawarra region, New South Wales

In this study we examine the leukocyte counts of gray catbirds (Dumetella carolinensis) infected with eastern equine encephalomyelitis virus (EEEV).

Avian Dis.: Leukocyte response to eastern equine encephalomyelitis virus in a wild passerine bird

Previous studies confirmed that the death of baby gray catbirds in the Washington suburbs were 80 per cent caused by predators, of which 47 per cent were cats; because of the feline's domestication, they have few natural predators to reduce the cat population.

New Zealand Economists Proposes Extinction of Cats to Save Bird Population

We have some gray catbirds and northern cardinals that are over 10 years old.

A bird in the hand: bird banders spark imaginations

Researchers tracked the ironically named baby gray catbirds with tiny radio transmitters and discovered that nearly 80 percent of the birds killed were done in by predators, of whom cats represented 47 percent.

Cats kill birds

Predation was so serious in some areas that the catbirds could not replace their numbers for the next generation, said the researchers.

American pet cats are No. 1 enemy of birds: Study

Sunflower seeds: bluebirds, buntings, cardinals, catbirds, chickadees, doves, finches, grosbeaks, jays, juncos, mockingbirds, nuthatches, pigeons, robins, siskins, sparrows, thrashers, titmice, towhees, woodpeckers