The Northern Mockingbird

  I’m a bird lover and a bird watcher. Another day I was in my front yard with my family doing a barbecue when I saw a different bird. I was watching that bird for few minutes and I asked my father in Law what type of bird is that? He told me that it was a Mockingbird. I kept watching and I saw another Mocking bird. They were flying back and forth to a bush close to us. When they flew away I went to see what was going in on in that bush. I saw a nest with 3 eggs so I kept far from the bushes. After seeing that I got curious and I started my research about the Mockingbird.

  I watched them for several months. While I was watching them I wrote about their behavior, their descriptions and what they ate. According to Wikipedia There are about 17 species of the mockingbird family. Here is a list of them.

·         Brown-backed Mockingbird

·         Bahama Mockingbird

·         Long-tailed Mockingbird

·         Patagonian Mockingbird

·         Chilean-Mockingbird

·         White-banded Mockingbird

·         Northern Mockingbird

·         Socorro Mockingbird

·         Tropical Mockingbird

·         Chalk-browed Mockingbird

·         Hood Mockingbird

·         Galapagos Mockingbird

·         Floreana Mockingbird

·         San Cristobal Mockingbird

·         Blue Mockingbird rare in USA

·         Blue and white Mockingbird

  The Northern Mockingbird is the only mockingbird species seen in Florida.

  I see them often in my backyard and I love to watch them. They are beautiful. In my opinion when I see them standing still with their long straight tail it creates an impression of respect, power and majesty.

The Northern Mockingbird description

  Their tails are dark gray with white outer tail feathers. Their wings are primarily dark gray with white marks and their bodies are light gray on the top and white on the bottom. They have long legs, long tails, and pale eyes.

 
  The Northern Mockingbird is extending its territory further north, however it is still primarily a Southern bird. The Northern Mockingbird is considered the state bird of Arkansas, Florida, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Texas.

What do Mockingbirds eat?

  I have a squirrel proof bird feeder in my backyard and I filled it with fresh seeds. I waited to see if the Northern Mockingbirds would be attracted by the food and if they would stop to eat the fresh seeds that it is in my squirrel proof bird feeder. It has been several months now that the mockingbirds have been in my backyard. I have never seen any Mockingbirds eating from my squirrel proof bird feeder. I then found out that they don’t like to eat from the squirrel proof bird feeders because they don’t eat seeds. They like to eat bugs, insects, worms, suet, dried grapes or dried raisins, figs, berries, apples, oranges and dogwood.

       
 
The Northern Mockingbirds love water. I can see them in my backyard taking a bath and refreshing from the hot summer. By providing Mockingbirds with a bird bath you can attract them to your backyard and capture beautiful scenes like this one.

Their Nest

  The Northern Mockingbird prefers to nest in small trees or bushes. The male and female Northern Mockingbird builds their nest in a cup shape using small twigs, hair, weeds, leaves, moss, feathers, thin roots and freshly cut grasses. After the nest is built the female mockingbird lays between 3 to 5 eggs per nest and incubates them for about 2 weeks. When the eggs are hatched, the female and the male take turns feeding the chicks. The eggs are blue with brown markings.

   The Mockingbird is a territorial songbird. They will protect their territory and their nests from other birds and predators all the time. It doesn’t matter how big the predator is, they will chase and attack anything that approaches their nests including people.

Picture by Marina Benson