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Cool Facts |
Photo
taken from:
The
Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Western North America by
David Allen Sibley
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- The Northern Mockingbird frequently gives a "wing flash" display,
where it half or fully opens its wings in jerky intermediate steps,
showing off the big white patches. No one knows why it does this
behavior, but some have suggested that it startles insects into
revealing themselves. However, it does not appear to flush insects, and
other mockingbird species that do not have white wing patches use the
display, casting doubt on this idea.
- The Northern Mockingbird is a loud and persistent singer. It sings
all through the day, and often into the night. Most nocturnal singers
are unmated males, which sing more than mated males during the day too.
Nighttime singing is more common during the full moon. In well-lit areas
around people, even mated males may sing at night.
- A Northern Mockingbird continues to add new sounds to its song
repertoire throughout its life.
- The Northern Mockingbird typically sings throughout most of the
year, from February through August, and again from September to early
November. A male may have two distinct repertoires of songs: one for
spring and another for fall. One study found only a one percent overlap
in song types used in spring and fall.
- The female Northern Mockingbird sings too, although usually more
quietly than the male does. She rarely sings in the summer, usually only
when the male is away from the territory. She sings more in the fall,
perhaps to establish a winter territory.
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Description |
- Size: 21-26 cm (8-10 in)
- Wingspan: 31-35 cm (12-14 in)
- Weight: 45-58 g (1.59-2.05 ounces)
- Medium-sized songbird.
- Long tail.
- Pale gray above, whitish below.
- Bill thin.
- Two white wingbars.
- Large white patches show in wings in flight.
- White outer tail feathers.
- Central tail feathers black.
- Thin, dark eyeline.
- Eyes yellow to orange.
- Legs long and dusky.
- Bill black with brown base.
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Sex Differences
Sexes look alike.
Immature
Juvenile similar to adult, but with faint spots on breast. |
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Range Map |
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Taxonomic Hierarchy |
© 2003 Cornell Lab of Ornithology
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Kingdom: |
Animalia |
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Phylum: |
Chordata |
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Subphylum: |
Vertebrata |
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Class: |
Aves |
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Order: |
Passeriformes |
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Family: |
Mimidae |
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Genus: |
Mimus |
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Species: |
Mimus polyglottos |
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Subspecies: |
- Mimus polyglottos leucopterus
- Mimus polyglottos polyglottos
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Sound |
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Song is a series of varied phrases, with each phrase repeated many
times in a row. Includes much mimicry of other bird songs and calls. Call
a harsh dry "chew."
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Identification and
Information
See
Anatomy
of a Bird
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Body |
- Length
Range: 25 cm (10 in)
- Weight:
48 g (1.7 oz)
- Size:
3. Medium (9 - 16 in)
- Color
Primary: Gray
- Underparts:
White with gray wash.
- Upperparts:
Gray
- Back
Pattern: Solid
- Belly
Pattern: Solid
- Breast
Pattern: Solid
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Head |
- Bill Shape:
All-purpose
- Eye Color:
Yellow to green or brown yellow.
- Head
Pattern: Eyeline, Plain
- Crown Color:
Gray
- Forehead
Color: Gray
- Nape Color:
Gray
- Throat
Color: White with gray wash.
- Cere color:
No Data
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Flight |
- Flight
Pattern: Several quick wing strokes
alternated with wings pulled to the sides.
- Wingspan
Range: 33-38 cm (13-15 in)
- Wing Shape:
Rounded-Wings
- Tail Shape:
Fan-shaped Tail
- Tail
Pattern: Solid
- Upper Tail:
Gray-black
- Under Tail:
White
- Leg Color:
Black
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Breeding |
- Breeding Location:
Forest edge, Open landscapes, Grassland with
scattered trees, Bushes, shrubs, and
thickets, Desert, Desert, semi
- Breeding Type:
Monogamous, Solitary nester
- Breeding Population: Fairly common to
common
- Egg Color:
Blue green with brown splotches
- Number of Eggs:
2 - 6
- Incubation Days: 12
- 13
- Egg Incubator:
Female
- Nest Material:
Sticks, stems, bits of fabric, and string.
- Migration: Migratory
- Condition at Hatching: Helpless with light gray down. Chicks fledge in 12 days.
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Other Names |
Similar Species |
- Moqueur polyglotte (French)
- Centzontle, Jilguero, Ruiseñor
(Spanish)
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- Gray Catbird is darker gray all over, without white
in wings and tail.
- Blue-gray Gnatcatcher is similarly colored, but is
tiny, lacks much white in wings, and has a white eyering.
- Loggerhead Shrike has less white in the wings,
black wings, a black mask, and flies with wingbeats too fast to
count.
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Conservation Status |
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Common and widespread. Populations may be declining in heart of the
range, but range is expanding northward. |
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Habitat |
Sources used to
Construct this Page: |
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Found in areas with open ground and shrubby vegetation, such as in
parkland, cultivated land, and suburbs. |
- Derrickson, K. C., and R. Breitwisch. 1992. Northern Mockingbird
(Mimus polyglottos). In The Birds of North
America, No. 7 (A. Poole, P. Stettenheim, and F. Gill, eds.). The
Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, PA, and The American
Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C.
- Hayslette, S. E. 2003. A test of the foraging function of
wing-flashing in northern mockingbirds. Southeastern Naturalist
2:93-98.
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Food |
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Fruits and insects. |
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Behavior |
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Forages on ground and from perches. Picks fruit while perched on
branch, but may hover to get some fruit. |
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