Subject: Help with catbird refs.
Date: Jul 20 12:38:57 2000
From: David Tracy - dtracy at richardloschinc.com


Tweeters,

I am cross-posting this message I sent to OBOL regarding
catbird nesting references. My hopes are someone up in
Washington has some refs or good experience with the species
and could lend a hand. If anyone can help, please contact
me off-list.

Thanks in advance for any assistance,

David Tracy
dtracy at richardloschinc.com
Bend, OR

Hello OBOL,

The catbird is still here in Bend, seen pretty much daily.
I have observed it carrying food on two separate occasions.
The bird is very bold and scolds me unceasingly whenever I
get into the area. I have entered the thicket (not easy)
where he is usually found and I located a used, but
unoccupied nest with a scattering of about 1-2 dozen gray &
gray/black feathers beneath. The nest obviously does not
belong to American robin, yellow warbler or song sparrow,
which are the most common nesters in the area. I still have
not seen more than one catbird (at a time?), however, a
couple of species accounts I've read describe the cryptic
nature of females and young during the nesting season, as
opposed to the male's fearless, scolding behavior toward
intruders that approach the nest or young.

Paul Adamus was kind enough to provide some details
regarding the catbird's breeding status in OR. There have
been 53 sightings over the past 5 years in OR during
breeding season. There have been 8 confirmations of nesting
in the same period. Nearly all of the sightings and all of
the breeding birds were found in N.E. Oregon, with the
closest confirmed nesting in Morrow Co. Two breeding
confirmations were reported sightings of fledglings, one on
July 18, one on August 7, which may explain why the nest I
located is empty, if it in fact belongs to the catbird.

Since this would be a noteworthy extra-limital breeding
record, I have been trying to get confirmation and
documentation of the effort, perhaps for publication as a
short note or brief article in OB.

Is there anyone out there that could identify a catbird nest
or individual catbird feathers? I have good quality video
captures in .jpg format that I could send out on floppy disk
or email. According to my refs, this nest's location,
construction and materials match pretty well what is written
about catbirds. I'm looking for someone who has a nest I.D.
book or article with detailed descriptions or that shows
pictures of catbird nests. Any other suggestions?