BirdNoir: The Catbird That Wasn't

BirdNote®
The Catbird That Wasn’t
Written by Conor Gearin

Michael Stein: This is BirdNoir. I’m Private Eye, Michael Stein.  

When you’re a bird detective, things aren’t always what they seem. Take this call I got the other day from an up-and-coming gumshoe named Ollie. [In background: phone briefly rings. Michael: Hello? A Gray Catbird you say?] He thought he’d heard his first Gray Catbird, a species that yowls like a cat:
    
    [Gray Catbird call]

Ollie: But I didn’t get a good look so I’m not totally sure. I think the catbird was laying low in a shrub at the edge of a field.

Michael: Didn’t get eyeballs on the bird? That’s alright. But are you sure this wasn’t a real cat meowing from a bush?

    [Cat meow]

    Ollie: Ha! This ain’t no cat! Otherwise he’d have tried to steal my tuna sandwich.

Michael: Well, my only suggestion is to hang tough and be patient. There’s another bird that sounds a little like a cat and comes out around sunset. Maybe check back around that time?

    [Short musical break] [abrupt phone ring]

Ollie: Holy prairie-chickens, Michael, I’m glad I went back! I just saw a Short-eared Owl swoop by and make the cat noise I heard earlier!

    [Short-eared Owl call]

Michael: Waiting things out and gathering all the clues helped Ollie crack this case. For more bird mysteries, go to our website, BirdNote dot org. I’m Michael Stein, Private Eye.

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Producer: Mark Bramhill
Managing Editor: Jazzi Johnson
Managing Producer: Conor Gearin
Content Director: Jonese Franklin
Bird sounds provided by The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. Gray Catbird ML107426 recorded by Wil Hershberger, and Short-eared Owl ML198229341 recorded by Luke Pearson.
BirdNote’s theme was composed and played by Nancy Rumbel and John Kessler.
© 2024 BirdNote May 2024
Narrator: Michael Stein

ID# noir-12-2024-05-22    noir-12