The Northern Mockingbird is a widespread and recognizable songbird across North America, known for its distinctive appearance and lively behaviors. These medium-sized birds, typically around 8.3 to 11 inches long with a wingspan of 12 to 15 inches, have slender bodies and long tails. They are characterized by their gray-brown upper feathers, paler undersides, and prominent white patches on their wings and outer tail feathers. Often seen in open areas, forest edges, and even suburban environments, the Northern Mockingbird is a familiar presence in many backyards and parks.
The Mockingbird’s Song
The Northern Mockingbird is renowned for its remarkable vocal abilities, which are central to its identity and earned it the scientific name Mimus polyglottos, meaning “many-tongued mimic.” These birds do not solely sing their own songs; instead, they learn and imitate a vast array of sounds from their environment. Their repertoire can include the songs of dozens of other bird species, as well as non-avian sounds like barking dogs, musical instruments, and even car alarms. An individual mockingbird can accumulate a repertoire of up to 200 different songs throughout its lifetime.
Mockingbird songs serve multiple purposes, primarily attracting mates and defending territory. Males often sing to advertise their presence and quality to potential partners. During the breeding season, males can sing almost continuously, sometimes even through the night. The complexity and persistence of their singing demonstrate territorial claims. Both males and females sing, though males are louder and more active vocalists.
What Mockingbirds Eat
Northern Mockingbirds are omnivorous, and their diet shifts with the seasons. In the late spring and summer months, their diet consists predominantly of insects and other arthropods. They actively forage on the ground, running and pausing to snatch prey such as beetles, grasshoppers, caterpillars, ants, wasps, spiders, and earthworms. They may also fly down from a perch to capture items or catch insects in mid-air.
As colder months approach and insect populations decline, the mockingbird’s diet shifts to rely heavily on fruits and berries. Wild fruits like mulberries, blackberries, hawthorns, elderberries, and dogwood berries become important food sources. This dietary flexibility allows them to adapt to varying food availability throughout the year. Mockingbirds can be seen perched in shrubs and trees to consume berries.
Raising Young
Mockingbirds engage in distinct breeding behaviors to raise their young. The male initiates nest construction, building a bulky foundation of twigs in a dense shrub or tree, usually between 3 to 10 feet above the ground. He may even build several incomplete nests before the female selects one to finish. The female then adds the inner lining using softer materials like grasses, rootlets, leaves, and sometimes even artificial fibers or bits of trash.
After nest completion, the female lays a clutch of 2 to 6 eggs, most commonly 3 to 4, which are typically greenish to bluish-gray with brown blotches. The female alone incubates the eggs for 12 to 13 days. Once the eggs hatch, both parents share the responsibility of feeding the nestlings a diet of insects and other invertebrates. Young mockingbirds fledge approximately 12 days after hatching, though they remain dependent on their parents for feeding for another two to three weeks until they can fly well and forage independently. Mockingbirds can produce two to three broods per year.
Defending Their Territory
Northern Mockingbirds are territorial birds, especially during the breeding season and when food sources are present. They aggressively defend their space from perceived threats, which can include other birds, squirrels, cats, and even humans who venture too close to their nests or foraging areas. Their defensive displays involve loud scolding calls and assertive physical actions.
Mockingbirds are known for their “dive-bombing” tactics, where they fly directly at intruders to deter them. They may also engage in “boundary dances” with other mockingbirds, hopping silently along territorial lines to establish dominance. This aggressive behavior is noticeable when they have young in the nest, as they protect their offspring. Even in winter, they defend food sources like berry bushes, chasing away other birds, even those not interested in the same food.