FERAL Cats> why are most Black or BW or gray, and not tabby or other...?

Answer 1

When you look at cat coat colour genetics, they are all more or less the same, but there are genes that modify the production of certain pigments that give colour and pattern.
A solid black cat has a "non-agouti" gene which masks the tabby pattern - it fills it in with black - sometimes in a black cat you can see ghost stripes of the tabby pattern if the cat is young or in sunlight. This non agouti gene that causes the solid colouring is actually a recessive gene, so theoretically there should be more tabby cats around.
Black and white is the same, but there is a white piebald spotting gene that stops the colour from spreading to the whole body - often just leaving the feet, muzzle and belly white.
Grey cats are black cats that have a diluting gene - so the black is turned grey (orange cats are turned cream by the same gene).
As for why there seem to be more solid black, black and white and grey cats around I don't know - Maybe tabby cats are more often taken into homes because they are more attractive, or the feral cats that you have seen are all related.

edit:
Thank you History, below - I think you may be right!
I also wonder if black cats are more in the feral population because they were considered unnlucky many years ago and therefore not kept as pets. I think your theory is more likely though ;-)

Answer 2

Black is the dominant color. Grey is a dilution of the black, so still common.
I work at a cat shelter, and black is clearly the most common color. There are black kittens in almost evey litter.

Answer 3

bec's answer was very interesting, but I think the answer to your question is more simple. Black and dark cats are harder to see at night, when they hunt, and those cats are less likely to be killed by other predators. They grow to adulthood and reproduce more.

Answer 4

Just genetics. It's random selection, but random often will go one way or another. They are most likely dominant colors.

Answer 5

use a dihybrid square to answer this
I'd do it for you but its kinda tricky on a laptop =/