#i stg these are random bc otherwise I would not have paired gray kitty to a corvid

[proton-wobbler]

Round 1, Poll 8

Gray Catbird vs Yellow-billed Magpie

sources under cut

Gray Catbird Propaganda

"They seem really unassuming but they have such a beautiful little song and … they look like they have a little bowl cut haha so cute. They’re usually super reclusive but I have so many in my front yard rn."

Gray Catbird get their name from one of their calls, which sounds like a small cat meowing in the bushes. They make a variety of other noises, one of which sounds like a little pellet gun rattling off.

This was the bird I learned to band with, and they'll forever hold a special place in my heart because of that. Their vent is covered in rusty-red feathers and when they're young it sometimes is laced red with gray on the inside. They scream so loud in your hand but sing so pretty once they're back in the bushes. They orb in a spectacular fashion. They're incredibly easy to age in hand (to me, at least).

Yellow-billed Magpie Propaganda

"Growing up, magpies were just another bird. Pretty, but loud and kind of annoying. Just this year (in my 30s!), I learned that the Yellow-billed Magpie only lives in the central valley and on the central coast of California. These birds were so common that I had no idea they only lived here. Very few people in my region seem to know that either so I've been spreading the knowledge."

They've got quite a varied diet, as most corvids do. Insects and scavenged carcasses make up a chunk of their food, but these magpie will also eat acorns, nuts, fruit and grains. They have been seen flipping over dried cow manure to pick at the insects living underneath, and will sometimes pluck ticks off of deer and horses.

Yellow-billed magpie will nest in loose colonies, and prefer to place their nests in clumps of mistletoe. They're at risk of losing a lot of habitat as the Central Valley becomes more and more developed, which lands this species on IUCN's Vulnerable list.

Image Sources: All About Birds