Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center
Breeding Range. (Fig. 125). Common in the Turtle Mountains; locally common in the Agassiz Lake Plain Region, on the Northeastern, Southern, and Northwestern Drift Plains, and on the Coteau Slope; fairly common locally on the Missouri Coteau, Missouri Slope, and Little Missouri Slope.
Breeding Habitat. Especially characteristic of dense thickets of small trees and shrubs that occur in moist situations. These may occur within semiopen forest habitats, as margins of woodlands, or as fairly dense pockets of brushland on the open prairie. Gray Catbirds also breed in man-made habitats with established shrubbery, including residential areas and parks in towns and cities, farmsteads, and mature, multi-row shelterbelts.
Nesting. Breeding season: Late May to late August; peak, early June to late July. Extreme egg dates (12 nests): June 3-9 [1915] in Richland County (R. Kellogg) to June 29 [1891] in Towner County (E. T. Judd). During June 14-19 [1915], nestlings were observed in Pembina County (R. Kellogg). Seven records of dependent young out of the nest ranged from June 30 [1972] in Billings County (E. A. Swenson) to August 20 [1944] in LaMoure County (M. L. Coyne).
Gray Catbird nests were found situated in a variety of woody plants including wolfberry, hawthorn, bur oak, choke cherry, wild plum, and Missouri gooseberry. The distance above the ground for five nests ranged from 2 to 10 feet, and averaged 4.4 feet.
Indicated clutch size (11 nests): 3 to 5 eggs; mean 4.3 eggs.
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| Figure 125. Breeding Range of Gray Catbird. |
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U.S. Department of the Interior |
U.S. Geological Survey
URL: http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/birds/bbofnd/species/7040.htm
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Menlo Park, CA [caww54]
