Catbird crazy

My neighborhood Gray Catbird returned for a songfest this morning and I must admit I am crazy about this species. This guy sang and sang and sang--more than 15 minutes with few brief interludes. I got the top photo of him in song, perched high in my honey locust tree.

I also caught the catbird during one of the interludes eating a red colored fruit from one of trees in my yard, shown in the lower pic. I have several fruit bearing trees and shrubs, mostly native types, to attract birds and I think that is what brings Gray Catbirds visiting my yard.

Gray Catbirds can be tricky to find visually as they skulkers, though they skulk in the tops of trees as well as in thickets nearer to the ground. As seen in the lower pic, the bird would stay inside the foliage (and in the shade). Be sure to double-click on both pics to enlarge them for better views--you can see it's throat feathers parted in the top pic as it sings, and it's dark crown can be seen in enlarged lower pic.
SeEtta