In the catbird seat

What a strange expression. It means being in a position of power or prominence. Or, more literally, it means sitting at my desk in the loft, with the window open. There’s been a very noisy bird parked in the sycamore tree just outside the window. It won’t shut up; it’s been nonstop. I couldn’t tell from its call what it was so I got up (any excuse will do) to look. The gray bird with the black cap eyed me--and meowed. Meow? Must be a catbird, I mused, joking to myself at first and then realizing that’s exactly what it had to be. I looked it up and sure enough, catbird. Okay, back to work now.