Early Morning Catbird Singing Pretty Songs
When I was 22, I was living in a small apartment in St. Paul, MN. and outside the windows next to my bedroom there was a thick row of tall bushes that separated us from the neighboring building (It was a strange place to live as Summit Ave, one of the richest neighborhoods in all of the Twin Cities, was about three blocks to one side of me, and Selby Ave., being about equidistant the other way, was hands down the seediest neighborhood in the city at that time owed to drugs, dealing, murders, etc.). That summer a Catbird had its babies in those bushes. I think only one survived and he lived right outside the window next to my bed. It was the worst for what I remember as months. I worked overnights and early, early every morning as I was trying to go to bed I would hear the most horribly annoying noises you can imagine for hours and hours on end, "wreeaah rhaw rwrhaw, wreeyat" etc. I thought, "This is the worst sounding bird in the world," In fact, I think it took me quite a while to even figure out that it was a bird. But what I realize now is that like a Mocking Bird, a Catbird is a Mimid, from the Latin Mimidae (mimic). And it has much more complex vocalizations than most other birds. They will learn and mimic other birds' songs, the sounds of other animals like frogs, and even those of machines. And because a Catbird has a songbird syrinx, it is able to make two sounds at once. Anyhow, I am sure that baby Catbirds sound so horrible because they have a much more difficult instrument and a great many more pieces to master ... (say a seven string guitar playing jazz fusion and then George Thorogood vs. a ukulele playing "Now I know my ABC's", and then "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star"). But when they reach adulthood their songs are absolutely wonderful. They are also visually a very beautiful animal, but it often goes unnoticed as they are not colorful. But, I like their tones of gray and their little black hats and their jet black beaks and eyes. Though that summer, I really hated that squawky little guy.
Early Morning Catbird Singing Pretty Songs
When I was 22, I was living in a small apartment in St. Paul, MN. and outside the windows next to my bedroom there was a thick row of tall bushes that separated us from the neighboring building (It was a strange place to live as Summit Ave, one of the richest neighborhoods in all of the Twin Cities, was about three blocks to one side of me, and Selby Ave., being about equidistant the other way, was hands down the seediest neighborhood in the city at that time owed to drugs, dealing, murders, etc.). That summer a Catbird had its babies in those bushes. I think only one survived and he lived right outside the window next to my bed. It was the worst for what I remember as months. I worked overnights and early, early every morning as I was trying to go to bed I would hear the most horribly annoying noises you can imagine for hours and hours on end, "wreeaah rhaw rwrhaw, wreeyat" etc. I thought, "This is the worst sounding bird in the world," In fact, I think it took me quite a while to even figure out that it was a bird. But what I realize now is that like a Mocking Bird, a Catbird is a Mimid, from the Latin Mimidae (mimic). And it has much more complex vocalizations than most other birds. They will learn and mimic other birds' songs, the sounds of other animals like frogs, and even those of machines. And because a Catbird has a songbird syrinx, it is able to make two sounds at once. Anyhow, I am sure that baby Catbirds sound so horrible because they have a much more difficult instrument and a great many more pieces to master ... (say a seven string guitar playing jazz fusion and then George Thorogood vs. a ukulele playing "Now I know my ABC's", and then "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star"). But when they reach adulthood their songs are absolutely wonderful. They are also visually a very beautiful animal, but it often goes unnoticed as they are not colorful. But, I like their tones of gray and their little black hats and their jet black beaks and eyes. Though that summer, I really hated that squawky little guy.