Pack up all my cares and woe, here I go, winging low
Bye, bye, catbirds
Yep. Catbirds. They’ve skipped town. I feel used in a way. They show up in March, two pair every year. They sing beautiful songs, then camp out at my suet feeder and peck away at my C & S Peanut logs. They eat lots themselves and they especially enjoy feeding the rich suet to their young. With a beak full of peanut bits, they flit off beneath the shrubs and bushes and feed theirr chicks.
But as soon as the chicks can take care of themselves, the catbirds leave – every year in August. The Audubon folks say that most catbirds winter in the southern-most United States or even the tropics, but a few linger to the north if they have access to a reliable source of berries or a particularly well-stocked bird feeder.
I think my catbirds are on their way to the Caribbean and I don’t blame them. I miss them already, but I know they’ll return next spring.
Bye, bye catbirds.