At Itchy Dog Farm right now we have a lot of birds, but not so many species. We have pileated woodpeckers in our pine trees, hummingbirds and cardinals in the yard, and a red-shouldered hawk keeping an eye on the pasture. Most common by far is the Northern Mockingbird, a year-round resident. In fact, they're so common, we almost don't notice them, despite their beautiful songs. We mostly notice them when we're birding and think we've sighted something interesting and it turns out to be only a mocker, oh well.
But we really shouldn't take them for granted. Mockers have beautiful voices and will sing for hours on end. They are so good at mimicking other birds' songs they can easily confuse a novice birder like me. Their scientific name, Mimus polyglottos, means "many tongued mimic." The male can sing as many as 200 different songs and will continue to learn new ones throughout his life. It stands to reason that the parent in the classic lullaby hopes a mockingbird will sing the baby to sleep:
Hush, little baby, don't say a word,
Pappa's going to buy you a mockingbird
Mockingbirds don't just imitate the songs of other bird species, but can pretty much mimic whatever they hear, including the sounds of humans, frogs, dogs, cell phones and even chain saws. A video on YouTube records a mockingbird mimicking a car alarm. In Hopi and Pueblo Indian creation myths, it is Mockingbird who first gave speech to humans.
Unfortunately, if you are a bird it does not behoove you to be too special. Passenger pigeons were plentiful and plump, and we ate them to extinction. Florida herons and egrets were slaughtered by the millions for the plume trade before obtaining federal protection in the early 20th century. Mocker populations were decimated near urban centers because of the Victorian passion for caging songbirds. Of course, those were the days before records and radio, when if you wanted a little music in your life you either had to teach your daughters to play the piano or hang a birdcage in your parlor. And the trend had an upside -- ornithologists believe mockingbird populations in the northwestern U.S., Hawaii and Canada originated from the release of caged birds.
Another distinction of mockers is that they are fearless. Mockingbirds are intensely territorial, and will chase away birds, dogs, cats, and any other living things they perceive as a threat.. It isn't unusual for us to see mockers chasing away crows twice their size, or harassing our resident hawk. Also like crows, they can recognize and remember individual people, and they do hold a grudge. A study at the University of Florida showed the birds could recognize and remember specific humans after only a minute of exposure. It would take way longer than that for me to recognize a particular mockingbird.
Despite the fact that they are found in all U.S. states including Hawaii and Alaska, Northern Mockingbirds are southern birds. They are the state bird of Florida, Mississippi, Tennessee, Texas, Arkansas, and until 1948, of South Carolina. The proclamation establishing the state bird of Texas declares the mocker "...is a singer of distinctive type, a fighter for the protection of his home, falling if need be, in its defense, like any true Texan". In To Kill a Mockingbird, the quintessential southern novel, the mockingbird is the symbol of innocence. The children are advised they can shoot as many tin cans and as blue jays as they can hit, but never hurt mockingbirds because they only sing and give pleasure to people. The Civil War ballad Listen to the Mockingbird evokes all the pathos of Walter Whitman's poems in far fewer words, as the dead woman's lover mourns the loss of his sweetheart:
Unfortunately, if you are a bird it does not behoove you to be too special. Passenger pigeons were plentiful and plump, and we ate them to extinction. Florida herons and egrets were slaughtered by the millions for the plume trade before obtaining federal protection in the early 20th century. Mocker populations were decimated near urban centers because of the Victorian passion for caging songbirds. Of course, those were the days before records and radio, when if you wanted a little music in your life you either had to teach your daughters to play the piano or hang a birdcage in your parlor. And the trend had an upside -- ornithologists believe mockingbird populations in the northwestern U.S., Hawaii and Canada originated from the release of caged birds.
Another distinction of mockers is that they are fearless. Mockingbirds are intensely territorial, and will chase away birds, dogs, cats, and any other living things they perceive as a threat.. It isn't unusual for us to see mockers chasing away crows twice their size, or harassing our resident hawk. Also like crows, they can recognize and remember individual people, and they do hold a grudge. A study at the University of Florida showed the birds could recognize and remember specific humans after only a minute of exposure. It would take way longer than that for me to recognize a particular mockingbird.
Despite the fact that they are found in all U.S. states including Hawaii and Alaska, Northern Mockingbirds are southern birds. They are the state bird of Florida, Mississippi, Tennessee, Texas, Arkansas, and until 1948, of South Carolina. The proclamation establishing the state bird of Texas declares the mocker "...is a singer of distinctive type, a fighter for the protection of his home, falling if need be, in its defense, like any true Texan". In To Kill a Mockingbird, the quintessential southern novel, the mockingbird is the symbol of innocence. The children are advised they can shoot as many tin cans and as blue jays as they can hit, but never hurt mockingbirds because they only sing and give pleasure to people. The Civil War ballad Listen to the Mockingbird evokes all the pathos of Walter Whitman's poems in far fewer words, as the dead woman's lover mourns the loss of his sweetheart:
Listen to the Mockingbird, listen to the Mockingbird
Oh the Mockingbird is singing oe'er her grave
Eminem's 2005 hit Mockingbird manages to evoke both the innocence of the lullaby and the sad experience of grieving for lost innocence in a single song, not bad for a Missouri boy.
Well, enough of all this. Mockers can't help the emotional baggage we pile upon them any more than they could have prevented 19th century urbanites from kidnapping their fledglings to sing in gilded cages. But they rule the roost at Itchy Dog Farm, and I'm glad they do.
* Photograph by Craig Walters, Avian Photographer Extraordinaire
** You can get notified of new blog posts by email by entering you address in "Follow by email" on the right-hand sidebar, under the Archive.
Well, enough of all this. Mockers can't help the emotional baggage we pile upon them any more than they could have prevented 19th century urbanites from kidnapping their fledglings to sing in gilded cages. But they rule the roost at Itchy Dog Farm, and I'm glad they do.
* Photograph by Craig Walters, Avian Photographer Extraordinaire
** You can get notified of new blog posts by email by entering you address in "Follow by email" on the right-hand sidebar, under the Archive.
