Catbirds are ubiquitous in my part of the world. With their Mohawk hairdos, they show up at the feeders at home and chatter away in the trees whenever I venture out to the parks nearby and beyond.
This morning, the gray catbird pictured above was perched on a bare tree — in the catbird seat, so to speak — as I approached on a trail at the Mercer Meadows Pole Farm.
I got to wondering, where did the common expression about someone being in the catbird seat originate? Off to Wikipedia I went, and I found an entry that traces the phrase’s origin to the American South in the 19th Century. The first printed reference, the entry says, was from a 1942 short story by American humorist James Thurber, long a favorite author of mine.
There’s even a baseball angle, according to Wikipedia. Hall of Fame broadcaster Red Barber used the phrase liberally when calling games, which is probably where Thurber picked it up. Barber (1908-1992) grew up in Mississippi and Florida, where the phrase was presumably in vogue.
Whether they’re cackling or mewing, catbirds add a dash of humor to daily life. As another great baseball broadcaster, Mel Allen, was fond of saying, “How about that!”
The Jersey Birder 