Northern Mockingbird

Mimus polyglottosOrder: PASSERIFORMESFamily: Mockingbirds and Thrashers (Mimidae)

General

Northern Mockingbird: Medium-sized mockingbird with gray upperparts, paler gray underparts, and thin black mask. Wings are gray-black with two white bars and large white patches visible when spread. Tail is long, gray, and edged with white. Sexes are similar. Juvenile has faint streaks on underparts.

Range and Habitat

Northern Mockingbird: Breeds from northern California, eastern Nebraska, southern Ontario, and Maritime Canada southward. Spends winters in the southern part of range. Found in residential areas, city parks, farmlands, open country with thickets, and desert brush.

Listen to Call

Voice Text

"chack"

Interesting Facts

The Northern Mockingbird is the state bird of Arkansas, Florida, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Texas.

The often observed behavior of birds flashing their white wing patches is still unexplained. Theories include it being used to startle prey or intimidate predators.

The Northern Mockingbird voraciously defends its territory, attacking intruders including house pets and even people.

A group of mockingbirds has many collective nouns, including an "echo", "exactness", "plagiary", and a "ridicule" of mockingbirds.

Author

Gary Owen Dick

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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.

Northern Mockingbird

Northern Mockingbird: Medium-sized mockingbird with gray upperparts, paler gray underparts, and thin black mask. Wings are gray-black with two white bars and large white patches visible when spread. The tail is long, gray, and edged with white. Legs and feet are black. Feeds on fruit and insects.

● Song: "chack"

● Foraging & Feeding: Northern Mockingbird: Diet consists of insects, fruits, crustaceans, and small vertebrates; forages in foliage and on the ground.

● Breeding & nesting: Northern Mockingbird: Two to six blue green eggs with brown splotches are laid in a bulky cup nest made of sticks and weed stems, and built in a bush or low tree. Incubation ranges from 12 to 13 days and is carried out by the female.

● Similar species: Northern Mockingbird: Shrikes have black masks and thicker bills. Sage Thrasher lacks white wing patches and has darker, more extensive spotting below. Bahama Mockingbird has streaked flanks and lacks wing patches.

Flight Pattern

Several quick wing strokes alternated with wings pulled to the sides.

● Range & Habitat: Northern Mockingbird: Breeds from northern California, eastern Nebraska, southern Ontario, and Maritime Canada southward. Spends winters in the southern part of range. Found in residential areas, city parks, farmlands, open country with thickets, and desert brush.

^BreedingMonogamous, Solitary nester

^Population

^MigrationNonmigratory

^Weight1.7 Ounces

Field Guide to Birds of North America