Gray Catbird, Dumetella carolinensis, one long developing song string, clean processed from original parabolic recording
family: Mockingbirds and Thrashers
Gray Catbirds are most easily recognizable from their characteristic "mew" like a loud cat, but males are also well known for long, developing song performances that include whistles, squeaks, gurgles, whines, nasal tones, even mimicry of other birds.
If you hear a long seemingly random performance coming from spikey shrubs, listen carefully to the phrasing. Where true Mockingbirds tend to repeat phrases three or more times and Brown Thrashers tend to repeat phrases twice before continuing, Gray Catbirds sing phrases almost at random with some repeated notes.
image credit: "Gray Catbird" by Mike's Birds is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
