What is a Mockingbird?

Maybe a Mexican vacation will be in my near future. I’d love to see those blue mockingbirds.

my class and i are about to start the book, To Kill a Mockingbird and this website has helped a lot for giving us background knowledge… thank you so much

Hello, Mike.

We have a nest in our ficus tree being diligently managed by a pair of mockingbirds. We also have 1/2 dozen mischevious and voracious beagles/beagle-mixes, so I was wondering if Mockingbird babies have a tendency to fall out of their nests – any more or less than the average bird.
Also, on average how many babies do mockingbirds tend to hatch? How long from the time they complete the nest to hatching, typically?
It has been a delight to have them as neighbors and have the opportunity to observe their work ethic and “commitment to family” ;o)

We are going stir crazy with sleep deprivation. We have a mockingbird that has not shut up for 1 week straight. Day and night. He wakes us up all night long. He sits somewhere in a tree in our nieghbors back yard. It has come to the point that we want to shoot it. There is nothing more soothing than listening to chirping birds in the mornings. But this is absolutley ridiculous. What do we do. I did read he is probably a lonely male looking for a female. Can’t he go elsewhere and look!!!! He is not finding one here.

I’m in the same situation as Sharon and Jan. Any help would be good, but I’m afraid that I might have to wait until mating season is over unless I find a way to kill the thing, since they’re so territorial and don’t seem to be afraid of anything. They chase away crows and constantly attack hawks. Help!

Having rcvd notice of Mike’s personal reply to posts made by Chris, Jan and Sharon, I was disappointed to not have received any response to my posts, which were sent nearly 3 weeks ago. Meanwhile, I received prompt, helfpul replies from All Experts, which I can, therefore, recommend. Sadly, since my original post the only 2 fledglings both inexplicably perished within the 1st 24 hrs after jumping their nest, despite them being successfully fed by both parents. . .Curt, our mockers really like the berries on our ficus tree and bottle brush. They have also responded favorly to the apple slices we’ve hung for them . . .our male is back to singing and the female appears to be “hanging around”, but no sign of nesting or renesting. . .

Hi,
There has been a mocking bird singing all night long in the tree right in front of my bedroom window. Now he is flying around with another bird that is blue and that looks a lot like him. I did some research on this blue bird, but I don’t know what kind of bird it is. It looks a lot like a bright colored blue mocking bird. Its so pretty. Are there any bright colored blue mocking birds is southern CA?
Thanks

It is Midnight, I need to work at 7am. Not only that, but this bird has been waking my 20mo old daughter every night, several times. I want to enjoy the lovely melody of this mockingbird in my tree, but at a decent hour. I must admit, I did throw a chopstick at the tree and it quieted him for about 1 minute, but now I realize after visiting this site that I am not supposed to do that. I am all for protecting wildlife, but my mamma bird instincts have set in, and me and my daughter (and my husband) NEED SOME SLEEP!!

Isn’t there some kind of birdy dating website out there to speed up this whole mating process? Like wingmatch.com? Is there anything I can do to help him attract a female faster (I read something about apple slices)

Ironically enough, where we live is not very “Rural” (actually it is more like “Urban NJ.” Our tree is almost the biggest around here and we just planted it like 4 yrs ago (not to mention the oil storage facilitly and refinery less than 2 blocks away). I can take the pigeons on the roof at 6 am, but this……..

We’ve recently moved to central Florida and have fallen in love with the mockingbird. We enjoy their antics and their sometimes hilarious songs day or night (hint: sponge earplugs work GREAT on those nights where the songs don’t put you to sleep). However, I remember hearing something about mockingbirds laying their eggs in other bird’s nests to have them fed/raised by another species. Also, if there are other birds/eggs in the nest when they hatch, they are always larger than the original eggs and the new baby mockingbirds will push the smaller birds out of their nest and to their doom. Any truth to this or is it an “old bird’s tale”? No matter; would still love the songsters anyway.

Mike! That was not a comforting message to Martha nor me….a couple of years????? Does this soulful mating call go on only in the spring??? Please say yes! I did notice that I didn’t see them from January until April…where did they go…. Give us HOPE please!

Mockingbirds do eat gardens. Over many years they have feasted on my tomatoes, sometimes destroying an entire plant. They have also pecked on my peaches causing damage. I like them as an interesting and entertaining bird, but they need to learn better manners.

There has been a Mockingbird in a tree across the road for a week and, yes, its non-stop singing. I have actually felt guilty at times for needing a little break from it but then I remind myself that God gave each bird, animal and human certain characteristics needed for their species – singing is the one for the Mockingbird…I can only be grateful that I don’t have to climb an 80-ft. tall tree and sing for my mate!

I am an elementary school teacher that has a second job working midnights on the weekend. This second job has afforded me the opportunity to hear, for the first time, the lovely song of the mockingbird. I love nature and I feel so blessed to hear the beautiful song of this remarkable bird every weekend. He sings all night long and I think it is just lovely!! I love listening to his many different sounds and I will be sad when he finds a mate and sings no more. God is so good to have given me the opportunity to hear such a wonderful song! I would love to have him live in my front yard tree. Then I could listen to him all night and perhaps all day long!

We had the new neighbor move in a week and a half ago. I am 50 years old and have never experienced such a LOUD neighbor! He sits in my tall Holly Bush outside my bedroom window and loves to wake me up. I think my body is adjusting to the sounds, I seem to sleep through it more now. At first I was totally going crazy with the LOUD chirps. But after reading so many websites (this is a great one!) I decided to get a good attitude about the bird, I named him Mockie. Spent about 30 minutes taking photos of him this morning.
After reading this site, I feel sorry for the poor male that does not have a girlfriend 🙁

Very interesting information on mockingbirds. I was curious about why they sang at night and here I found out it’s the bachelor birds who are singing enthusiastically all night long.

Interestingly, our local mockingbirds have learned to mimic my Jenday conure, who shrieks in a discordant and extremely loud voice when he wants attention. I first heard a mockingbird mimicking “Chili Pepper” early one morning as I went out to pick up the paper. Since Chili was still in “bed”, covered up in his cage, I was a bit confused. I quickly realized it was a mockingbird, who had learned his shriek, albeit at slightly reduced volume to account for the glass window he hears them through. It was amazing!

Since that day a couple of months ago, the first mockingbird appears to have passed on the new “song” to others in the area. We observed what had to be a young mockingbird learning songs from an older, much louder bird several houses away.

I really love these birds despite the disruption to sleep they sometimes cause!

I am one of the people who are lucky enough to have a mockingbird outside of my window and be a light sleeper. I’m about to lose it on this bird. The houses here are so cheaply made that it sounds like I’m right next to it. The most I’ve done was squirt at the tree with the squirt bottle I train my puppy with. That quieted him for a little while. My neighbors suggested putting pepper in the 60ft tree. We are desperate. I know they are protected but how far can we go to attempt to quiet or noisy neighbor? and what time of day do they normally stop? i need to know so i can take a nap. It has gotten really bad for me because I am bipolar and lack of sleep is one of my triggers. I want to hurt everyone. PLEASE HELP ME!!! I’ll do anything. Even if it means climbing into a 60ft tree to put pepper in it.

Thank you for the answer to my burning question! Just when I started opening the windows at night in No. California, we got a Mockingbird. I didn’t get why he starts singing exactly at midnight. Now, I’ll have to see what time he gives up. Only a few weeks, then?

My favorite mockingbird sounds are from a few that we experienced while living in California – the sound of seagulls as they fly away, the beeps that the streelight timers make to aid in crossing the street and, yes, a cat’s meow. Our new mocker in Florida is not quite as talented, but he is persistent. We’re verging on 6 weeks of almost constant singing! Any idea on how long this can last until he either mates or gives up?

I came here wondering what was singing so beautifully after midnight in Northern Nevada…
Seemed like a mocking bird, but I didn’t know they were here.
They are.
Sweet little chirpy noises here so far.
Evidently our horny young male hasn’t gotten too much of lawn mowers & weed whackers!
Had mocking birds in So. Cal. that were blustrous with mechanical sounds.

A more humane method for ridding your yard of Mockingbirds? While spending time at my daughter’s home in Florida, we had our first nocturnal mockingbird experience. We enjoyed his first few hours of constant singing, but soon became weary from it. That is when my daughter placed her computer speakers in an open window, found a screeching Blue Jay sound file on the internet, and cranked up the volume. No more Mockingbird!

“Our” Mockingbird couple had it’s chick hatch a few weeks ago. It was fed regularly and I have seen it fly a little. But all of a sudden, the parents (or Dad) disappeared and it’s no longer being fed. Is it because it is time for the baby to “leave the nest”? It cries all day because it is hungry. Should I feed it? Thanks.

We have Mockingbirds in the holly bush right outside the front door. At first we thought it was wonderful because we had just witnessed Robins being born and sent off earlier. But these birds are nasty! They have swooped down on my husband while he was watering the lawn, and pecked out my dog’s behind just for standing in the front yard. We can’t even sit on the front porch anymore. I don’t want to hurt them, but at the same time, this is our home. The other day as my husband was leaving, he asked me to cover him. Needless to say once the eggs hatch the holly bush is being cut down.

Thank goodness for this site and for the wisdom of this particular crowd. Nearly all my mocker questions have been answered in your recent posts and replies. Hard to believe that I’ve reached the age of retirement and am experiencing my first sleepless mockingbird season. Something that still mystifies me: What effect on females of other types does all this mimicry have? Generally I’m against personifying other species, but I really do wonder what goes through the “mind” of an eager female when she finds out our antenna-sitter is all song and no pay-off.

This has been our first night of sleep in three weeks.

Mike, I live in Florida and have many mockingirds living in our yard and in the preserve behind our house. We have an umbrella tree that a pair of mockingbirds built their nest in only a few feet from the ground. There were 4 eggs and 3 of the chicks hatched. Both parents were very attentive and the chicks seemed like they were doing fine. The chicks were about 3 days old when they just disappeared. I saw them at dusk and the next day they were gone. They didn’t have any feathers and they are not on the ground around the tree. Do mockingbirds relocate their young? Or do you think a predator got them? I saw no sign of violence in the nest or around the tree. Thanks for any info. I hope they are ok.

I am in Florida and have a pair of mockingbirds building a nest in front of our house right now! I am excited, since I believe this same pair tried last year but the eggs either fell out or were no good and they threw them out.

Haven’t seen too much about mockingbird attacks on humans, but we’ve got a major problem with it here at my workplace! Employees and clients are getting constantly swooped down on and sqwaked at. We consulted a local expert several weeks ago about what to do, and she said the bird family would be gone within a week or two. Which was true, kind of. One bird (or it could be a different one I suppose) has stuck around and is now worse than ever. Plus there are new babies now. I’m afraid someone will get hurt! Should we be afraid that it will actually peck someone or will it just continue to swoop? Is there anything we can do?

I came here to learn more about the melodious fellow who’s been singing at the top of his lungs from the top of one of our redwood trees. I was pretty sure by his markings that he was a mockingbird, but I knew for certain when in the midst of his series of differing but lovely notes he’d squawk like a scrub jay (of which we have many around here). He’s very entertaining, but did keep my daughter awake a couple nights until he moved from near her window to a much taller tree behind the house. He flashes his wings with a jerky sort of skip-hop-fly-land thing every once in a while, too.

To Diane Capuozo…
Same thing has been happening with the Mockingbirds nested in my Ficus trees (perhaps even the Torrey Pine and eucalyptus tree). They have been making loud , aggressive noises all day into the night…as long as my cat, Tonto, is lying outside. Then, they swoop down and poke at him. I don’t know if it paralyses him, but he just lays there and takes it. He has not tried to enter their nests as he is very old. It does disturb me quite a bit as I have never heard a song from them…only this loud squawking and then aggressive behavior.
I think the woman who said to get a water gun is smart. What I have done is when I hear them, I go outside and walk near my cat so that they won’t attack him. They seem to have calmed down in the last few days, but were a real nuisance for a week or so. Perhaps, they had little ones in their nests and were just being proactive with Tonto.

There are a lot of the same kind of bird outside my window in Southern California. I tried looking it up and the bird it looked most like was a Mockingbird. But the one I just saw has a light colored beak — perhaps a light yellow. Can Mockingbirds have light colored beaks? All the pictures I’ve seen they have dark beaks.

The only other difference I’ve noticed with these birds is they are a little less plump in the chest than the prototypical Mockingbird. But I just figured they were thin Mockingbirds. Maybe they are something else?

Thanks!

I am surrounded by mockingbirds most of the year and occasionally I become a foster/adoptive parent to an injured baby bird. This was the case recently when I became Sweet P’s mother. The parents refused to care for him after my dog picked it up in the yard. He was underdeveloped but did not appear injured, even by the dog. I gave the parents every opportunity to care for this little guy but after 7 hours of no food, I took him in. I feed him meal worms the first 48 hours along with Dole diced apple. I found much great information on the web in regards to feeding and feed my Sweet P a diet of Fancy Feast white chicken and egg souffle with garden greens( spoon pestalled) combined with organic wheat germ and smushed diced apple,
as well as fruit all fortified with vitamins. He thrived on this diet.
I discovered too late however, my Sweet P had Avian Pox and Two Months
after his arrival in my life he succumbed to this, but not without a fight on both our parts. Please express to all mockingbird lovers who have the occasional baby drop into their lives to know the name of a local wildlife certified vet, that can identify this deadly virus before it starts its terrible course and maybe instruct you on supportive care on a “vet level”. I still miss my Sweet P’s Barking like my dogs as I entered the house. Thank you for your website.
Chris

theese mocking birds are so cool i wtch them all day every single day there just so intresting!

Mockingbirds are very intelligent, yesterday morning I thought there was a Hawk in one of my trees, had all the birds screaming in their own way. Turned out to be a Mockingbird imitating a hawk. It sure got rid of the grouping of Black Birds that had taken over my oak tree. I thought it was histerically funny. Mockingbirds do like a little cautious interaction with humans from time to time, especially after their young have matured. They are quite entertaining!
Keep Watching!!!

P.S. – I’m in eastern Virginia.

I swear that the mockingbird in my courtyard uses a “mike” to give his middle of the night concerts. His voice is so very loud (and beautiful). I think that if I were to be re-born it would have to be a mockingbird since the variety of song is so vast. How could you ever be bored?

I have personal favorites that are repeated but sometimes it takes quite a while which further impedes my sleep since I wait and wait, waking up my partner to hear what I happen to think is quite funny (he doesn’t see the humor). One is the mockingbird’s rendition of theme from “Rawhide” …..Rollin’….rollin’….rollin…keep those doggies rollin….'” and then he seems to be saying, “Cheeseburger, cheeseburger, cheeseburger, Cheese” I lay awake at night and wait for them to come around again.

I have heard other mockingbirds sing “Rawhide” and “cheeseburger.” It would be interesting to me to know if other mockingbird audiences find some of the same “songs” universal.

Charleen.

i live in canada and i have never seen a mockingbird or herd an mockingbird in my life but im only 15 and a half and my god would i ever love to experience the heart touching sound of a mockingbird. are there mockingbirds in canada?

hey charlene,

thanks for letting me know, i will forsure keep my eyes open for them then, i cant wait to see my first mockingbird, im so excited. i guess im going to have to wait a few months now since it is winter here almost in canada. ill keep a look out for the white winged birds…thanks alot for letting me know though im so gald to hear i wont have to travel to see those beautiful creatures.

alley from mb. canada

I’m doing a 4 page research paper on mockinbirds in highschool. And i didn’t expect to enjoy it. But now that i know way more about this bird. I would love to go visit a southern state to see them!

[:

Like Thelma, I am still having the same trouble with a mockingbird that has exclusively chosen my balcony feeding station. He has lightened up slightly — he actually let a few doves eat a couple of seeds this weekend before dive-bombing them. I remember that he did the same thing last year but not to this extent. If anyone knows how to convince a mockingbird to relocate, I would be happy for any advice. I also miss seeing the other bird varieties.

I like the blue jay call noise broadcasting to scare the bird away. I have watched the pecking order of birds. The Jay is the largest and beats out all others.

I also have a mockingbird “Bully”. I live in Western Maryland and like to feed the birds. This mockingbird took over my suet feeder early in the fall and kept the other birds away. I wasn’t concerned because he didn’t bother the birds at the other feeders. Just this weekend the mockingbird has decided that no one can feed in my yard. Be it squirrel or bird, no one is allowed anywhere near the feeders. I leave the seed heads on the Blackeyed Susans for the Finches and they are dive bombed by the bully. This behavior started this weekend when the mockingbird started to sing in the very early morning, (5:00 am). I have a shepherds hook where the feeders hang and I moved the suet feeder about 30 feet away. The mockingbird will feed at the suet and then come back to the shepherds hook and protect his territory. Is this part of their mating behavior? Do I put the suet feeder away for awhile? Hope someone has some answers.

I live in central Florida and a Mockingbird, obviously a male has taken up residence in my nieghbors backyard, and been keeping her up all night for about a week now. We don’t hear the bird next door but our 9 year old Rat Terrier DOES! He has had us up barking all night long. We couldn’t figure out why all of a sudden he had taken up barking at all hours of the night until my Huspand spotted the Mockingbird in our backyard yesterday and my tired neighbor called me today to ask me if the bird had been keeping us up too. At least I know now that my dog isn’t crazy, I thought maybe he was getting doggy alzheimers or something! I think that maybe the only thing worse than a mocking bird keeping you up all night is a dog barking all night long from INside your house! This website has been a great resource. It’s good to know that this should only last another week or so, hopefully! If not I’m gonna tell my neighbor about the bluejay screech sounds through the computer speakers. Great idea.

I want to know if Mocking bird endangered. And how many of them are left.

Just to give you an update, Our lonely Male mocking bird has been quite for about a week now. Sure enough a Female heard him and they are living very happily and quitely in my neighbors tree. Thanks again for all the advise here.

I really enjoyed your article, and just had to read all of the comments. It amazes me that people are distressed with the sound of Mockingbirds. When I think of the sounds that drive me nuts its the ones made by man. I found it interesting that many who could not stand the songs of Mockingbirds lived in big cities like NY. Can people be so out of tune with nature that birds are more offensive than the sounds of traffic, trains and planes?

I really enjoyed all the stories of all the sounds mockingbirds mimicked. Perhaps what struck me the most was the mimic of the ringtone which caused a person to pick up a phone.

The antics of mockingbirds are fun to watch. I have seem them harass dogs, cats and even bald eagles (And I have a picture of that http://www.flickr.com/photos/lynchburgvirginia/2656644832/). They are quite brave little birds.

Later tonight, I will be posting one of my many pictures of a Northern Mockingbird. They are such good posers and camera hams.

I live in a suburb in SE metro Phoenix, Arizona. A male bachelor Northern Mockingbird has taken up residence in the neighbor’s 40 foot tree. Unfortunately, our bedrooms are located on the the side of the house nearest to the tree. The bird is extremely loud, begins activity around midnight, and chirps a series of six different sounds, usually strung together in three or four chirps per sound.

The chirps are so repetitive and precise that, at first, my wife and I thought the neighbor had bought some mechanical bird chirping device and left it on. I went over to the tree (at 1am) and started talking loud enough that any ordinary bird would stop, but there was no break in the chirping. Then I stood directly under the tree and the noise stopped. But as soon as I walked away, the noise started again. Surely, a mechanical bird noise maker wouldn’t have a motion detector that stopped the chirps when motion was detected. I walked under the tree a couple more times. Each time, the chirps would stop and then start up again as soon as I walked away.

My wife and I were perplexed. Finally, I decided to give the tree a good shake. The chirping stopped, even after I walked away. Mystery solved… this was no bird device gone crazy, we were cursed by the bachelor mockingbird. The chirping temporarily stopped, but in the midst of the trial and error, we pissed off the neighbor’s five chihuahuas who were now barking up a storm. I’m not sure which noise is worse when you just can’t fall asleep. Time to have a strong drink and then crank up the humidifier which might dull the barking and chirping that assaults my senses. Perhaps in the morning, I’ll check on any last minute deals to Hawaii. Or maybe I should take my plastic garden owl and chuck it up in the tree to see if I can fool the bachelor into thinking he has found a mate.

I made some spelling errors in my comment above

I was out feeding chickins in Maypearl Texas when I heard a chicken clucking on the other side if the fence, I looked and saw a Mockingbird sitting in a tree and the clucking sound was from him.

Mocking birds are the most annoying birds on planet earth.
The amateur singing reminds me more of the nonstop bickering of a miserable woman. Painfully piercing to the creative human, only the bland and boring listener may enjoy as they suffer from an absence of excitement in thier life. Much like a determined cricket hiding in your bedroom in the middle of the night, chirping consistantly as you toss and turn while fantasizing the many painful deaths you could bestow upon it, is the mocking bird to the Guld Coast human inhabitant. Ten years of my life on this coast have come and gone. I have failed to find a native who enjoys the company of this feathery earsore. So all who speak kindly of this white striped beast, I invite you to come, come watch them be my feast.

I live in Florida and on Tuesday we had very windy conditions in the area. Upon leaving work I found a chick (which I believe is a mockingbird) at the wheel of my truck cowering and crying for food. I looked around and saw no parent in site. The parking lot close by had been closed due to construction on a parking gagrage. The closest trees apeared to have no visible signs of nests. I decided to bring it home and care for and try to identify it species. My son and I have been feeding it from a siringe with baby bird formula I purchased at the pet store. It has taken well to our attention but I am wondering how long I must do this before I can release it back to the wild. Also I would like to make sure I am correct in assuming it is a mockingbird.
Any help would be appreciated.

I have one mockingbird that has been coming in my backyard for 2 years, he is very vocal and has alot of sounds. I know he is the same bird because he does the same patterns, he sits in our bradford pear tree and sings all night long , very loudly. during the day he sits on the light pole behind the tree, singing very loudly and flys up about 2 feet about every 5 minutes and lands back on the pole. He doesnt leave for very long at all. it is such a blessing to have him around and to listen to him.

Since my last post, I downloaded and made a CD from the internet of a thunderstorm. I did notice this pesky mockingbird would not let another peep out after thunder. The first night it did run it away. The second night, it sang a couple of songs. The next 2 times it paid no attention to it at all. No telling what the neighbors thought but as I was wearing down from lack of sleep it didn’t matter. But now I have heard nothing from this bird in about 3 nights. Either this tactic worked or he did find a mate. Nevertheless, I am sleeping much better. If he would just sing the same song over and over it wouldn’t be so bad but over and over a different song it keeps my mind working and I am not to sleep. I love all birds but not this sort of night behavior right outside my bedroom window! Hopefully, he is gone or done for good this year.

For all of those people that are tired of the constant singing of the Mockingbirds at night, just use earplugs. They work great!

It is 3:00 am in Miami, Florida. I actually live in Homestead which is in between the Keys and Miami. For the longest time I actually thought that I was hearing a ghost bird. I would swear to my parents that I would hear bird calls at night and they would tell me theres no such thing. It would actually keep me up at night because I am deathly afraid of ghosts. Well tonight I thought “hey! maybes it’s a Nightingale!” (let me again mention its only 3 o’clock in the morning because, yes, I know nightingales only exist in Europe). But while i listened to a youtube video of a Nightingale I realized it was missing one key factor: a high-pitched trill followed emediatly by something similar to a sing-song version of a laugh. While searching I came across a post of another night-time bird that is Florida’s bird. the Mickingbird. I listened to another yourbe video and it had exactly what i was looking for. I looked up pictures and articles including yours. And I recognize the bird. It’s (honest to god) the Northern varety because I have seen it up close… attacking me. And while I’m sitting here it is immitating the call of a rooster. And the whole family thought that that rooster was just stupid for crowing at night! That would also explain why i hear a cat in a tree sometimes but… no cat! So, greatfull to the Internet, I can sleep soundly at night once again, knowing that it’s not just a bird, but a nocturnal bird!

I was sitting here in my home in Florida, reading this informative site, when all of a sudden, I heard this loud ruckus….of screeching, squawking, screaming mockingbirds..I ran outside there must have been about 10 mockingbirds attacking this large black bird on the ground. When the black bird took flight it had one of the mockingbirds in it’s beak…and the the other mocking birds chased it out of sight. So sad, I hope it was not the mockingbird that was nesting in the bush next door..it comes to my bird bath often……. 🙁

Another suggestion for people who lose sleep because of mockingbird songs: if you don’t like earplugs, use a white-noise maker. You can adjust the volume. It’s a much more effective solution than trying to silence the mockingbird.

I never knew what a Mockingbird looked like, but it didn’t take long before I knew I had one in the tree outside. This bird sang several different tunes of familiar birds, as well as a perfect immitation of a car alarm. As amused as I was with the talent, it was 10pm when I first noticed it singing outside, and this bird was loud! So of course the first thing that came into my mind was, this is a rabbid bird! (I was always warned about animals that were active at unusual times of day) A few hours later I was certain that this bird was rabbid and going crazy because it belted out tunes nonstop keeping me up until 4am. So I went through this cycle for a few days until I overcame my fear of “rabbid birds” in a desperate act to get some much needed sleep and I harpooned out of my house and into that tree late at night in an attempt to shake it out! Needless to say, the only thing I scared was probably my neighbors who may question my sanity now. Tonight I’ll stay inside, but that bird is still there and its 2:30am, so I decided to look up Mockingbirds online to see how I can get him to fly somewhere else. Now I know he is singing his heart out for a mate, and I just have pity on the poor thing, because he isn’t sleeping either. So I guess I’ll just get used to sleeping with my head UNDER my pillows. Nice site.

HI–I HAVE GOOGLED THAT SAME QUESTION TRYING TO FIND OUT HOW LONG MOCKINGBIRDS LIVE. WE HAVE A MOCKINGBIRD FRIEND TOO-FIRST WE HAD JUST HER-NOW WE HAVE 3 MOCKINGBIRDS! I WROTE A LENGTHY PARAGRAPH ABOVE….PLEASE READ IT-IT’S IN ALL CAPS. ANYHOO-WE’RE CLOSEST TO THE FEMALE (WE ASSUME SHE’S FEMALE)–SHE COMES TO EAT IN FRONT OF US TOO-SHE’S SO LOVELY AND SWEET AND CURIOUS. WE FEED THEM ORGANIC (SLICED VERY SMALL) PIECES OF APPLE AND TOMATOR-MOCKINGBIRDS GO NUTS FOR APPLE AND TOMATOES!! ORGANIC MULTIGRAIN-WHOLE GRAINS BREAD TOO! CRUMBLE IT UP INTO ITSIE BITSIE PIECES. ORGANIC IS BEST–SINCE IT’S PESTICIDE-HERBICIDE-FUNGICIDE-GMO FREE—AND IF U WANT THEIR LIFESPAN TO BE LONG–FEED THEM THIS STUFF-WE ALSO FEED THEM BIRD SEED–THEY DON’T LIKE THE WILD BIRD SEED MIXES–BUT WE STILL PUT IT IN THE FEEDER FOR THE OTHER BIRDS. DO NOT FEED THEM CONVENTIONAL DOG FOOD! EVEN YOUR OWN DOG SHOULDN’T EAT REGULAR CONVENTIONAL DOG FOOD. GET YOUR DOG ALL NATURAL DOG FOOD-CUZ CONVENTIONAL DOG FOOD IS NASTY STUFF-THAT CONTAINS BYPRODUCTS-AND DISEASED GROUND UP ROAD-KILL. I KNOW THIS SOUNDS TERRIBLE-BUT DON’T TAKE MY WORD FOR IT—-LOOK IT UP AND RESEARCH IT-U’LL SEE I’M TELLING U THE TRUTH. ANIMALS DESERVE CLEAN HEALTHY FOOD!!!! I’M GLAD 2 HEAR THAT U’RE BUDDY BUDDY W/ THE MOCKINGBIRD….CUZ I HATE TO HEAR WHEN PEOPLE ARE ANGRY W/ THEM-AND WANT TO GET RID OF THEM. THEY’RE A REAL BLESSING TO HAVE AROUND–WE’RE LUCKY TO HAVE THEM! GOOD LUCK!

Go hug a tree.
That is, if you don’t think the tree will mind.

Mike – really nice site – THANKS.

I just finished trying to have a nice quite morning on the back patio drinking coffee. I live in a suburb of Dallas. In the area trees I have:
Doves – cooooing
Crows – crowing
Red Headed Woodpeckers – pecking
Sparrows – chirping
Blue Jays/Robins and Cardinals – hardly making any noise

And MOCKINGBIRDS – doing what they do…LOUDLY. I have way more then one of these lonely bachelors looking for love. OH how I’d like to put em out of theirs and my misery. (but I won’t)

Thanks to you and your site – now I know why my brain is frazzled and that maybe is a couple of weeks the racket will be gone.

Hey Chloe,

I am interested in attracting one of these mockingbirds myself and would like to know exactly what type of apple they were eating (granny smith, red delicious etc.) and do they have to be organic because I am on tight budget since I just spent a boatload of money on syanide.

Mike, it was my understanding that “authors” such as spatchula are screened before posting, therefore eliminating his unwanted words.
Pamella

Hi Mike,

I’m glad u put “Spatchula” in his/her “place”–b/c I’m a bit upset about that last comment he/she made (to me). I had answered Toni’s comment-saying what Mockingbirds love to eat…..then Spatchula had to put an evil twist on it. That comment freaked me out–i don’t want to give an evil person any “ideas”. AS for U, Spatchula—please leave your Mockingbirds alone!! Or-mother nature, GOD and your karma WILL get ya!!!

I witnessed a mockingbird battle royale outside my bedroom window this morning. As I drew the drapes open, I spotted a pair of mockingbirds in an aerial battle about 20 feet above the street. They flew at each other, smashing into one another then locked together, cartwheeling through the air. This continued for about 10 seconds when one bird either let go or was flung off by the other.

The victor flew up away into a tree across the street while its foe fell to the ground and lay there stunned and unmoving. I really thought it was badly injured or dead but when I went outside to check, it had revived and flown off.

It was quite a vicious battle – I was amazed at the ferocity. These guys don’t fool around!

Hi,

I know Mockingbirds are fierce fighters, and it can be frightening to watch, but I think they are usually okay afterwards. Buddy (my longtime Mockingbird friend) used to “bully” the neighborhood cat, Lucky, something awful. I have watched Buddy try to intimidate Lucky as he walked across the yard trying his best to maintain some kind of dignity as Buddy literally flapped his wings and “screamed” at him the whole time, and this would be inches from his face. Lucky, being the gentle soul he was (he died from old age last year), never tried to fight back or run. He would just keep walking as if he was trying not to notice as this “thing” heckled him. It was so amusing to watch.

Steve: You seem oddly proud? Can all cat-owners take note please and just imagine the combined slaughter all the cats in the US wreak on the nation’s nesting birds? If habitat and climate change wasn’t impacting enough, adding millions of predators into the nation’s gardens is really not helping…please at least try to keep your cats under control until the nesting season is over.

Mike,

Do both the males and females build the nest, and will a male take more than one mate. I have one nest with hatchlings and 3 empty nests. There are four mockingbirds on the property, one of which that I am relatively sure was an immature bird that I put back in it’s nest last year.

This year, one of the mockingbirds (same bird?) repeatedly would look in my windows, hanging from the screens and singing to me in the yard, even mimicing my whistles, much to my entertainment. This particular bird is constantly within 10-15 feet of me in the garden and I suspect it might be the young bird that fell from the nest last year

This bird does not run me off from it’s nest, here is a photo link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/quietdancinghorses/3497273095/

It is becoming a daily occurance for this particular bird to chortle at me and sing, and it does not quiet down until I check the nest. Weird? I am curious about the 3 other empty nests. The area is open and rural, …a farm home in the middle of corn feilds and wonder about the odd behavior of these birds. In my experience, mockingbirds can be very territory, but this group of 4 is not, and the one in particular seems very amiable. I generally do not pay attention to birds, but this particular bird’s antics are difficult to ignore! It even follows the dogs around, not aggressively, but in a rather sly and I dare say curious manner. Weird.

This link shows the bird in question, driving one of the cats nuts through the window. http://www.flickr.com/photos/quietdancinghorses/3088807080

Hello mike. Ok I am like the rest of the people here whos husband and myself is losing or lost sleep over a mocking bird. I live in southern calif and have tried to shoot water on the “nice lil bird”,in what i think is my orange tree. I live behind a school yard and discovered that there is a hawks nest in the tree, but no hawk around it seems. How long does this “season” go for?? Its been like 2 mos now that we have been lacking sleep. You say its until he finds a mate. Like someone said can we like hurry this batchlor up?

sleepless until he finds a mate!

I have a mockingbird nest in a juniper bush and noticed that in one day the baby birds are gone. They seemed too small to fly to me so does the mother move them or did something eat them?

Kathy

It’s after 1 a.m. and our local lothario mockingbird hasn’t stopped singing for three days – and nights! He was quiet for a few minutes during the thunderstorm, but has picked up right where he left off – oh, with one addition. The frogs are croaking after the rain, and so is the mockingbird!

We’re in southern Florida.

My daughter saved one of two fledglings from a crow attack. After two weeks of feeding and feeding, it is flying. But not picking up food yet, still looks at it (might peck it), then opens the big yellow mouth for us to drop the worm or cricket in. We “released” it today, it flew around for 3 hours. Sounds great … but the local adult mockingbirds and other birds kept dive bombing it. It flew back and we are back to feeding it tonight. QUESTION: How/When do we release and should we try someplace else?

The parents usually push the babies out of the nest after 10 days. Then they are led to different bushes or hedges and sit in there while the parents feed them. You can hear the peep peep sounds, the sounds get louder as the parent flies in to feed them. In the early morning hours at first light you can see the parents showing the babies how to hunt for food on the lawns on our street. That’s the only time I see the babies out. After a few weeks they have gone off on their own and the parents start another nest. I throw out cut cotton twine and yarn in 4 – 6″ pieces for them to build their nest. They love it. I know, cause one day I looked into an empty nest and it was totally lined with the cotton twine….comffy for their little butts. They never reuse the nest. We live outside of Clearwater, FL and the parents build nest from about April through July and usually lay 3 – 4 eggs. My adult “Hughey” trust me and let’s me look into the nest. Usually they dive bomb people who go near the nest. Mockingbirds are very territorial and protect their area from other mocks when it comes to food. They will chase away other mocks, yet if a crow or hawk is in the area, that is the only time they get together and chase them away. Then it’s back to being territorial.

While looking for info on mockingbirds I was happy to find this site as I am trying to attract some of them to my home.
On Tuesday, May 19, 2009, the St. Petersburg Times (Florida paper) had an interesting article. It states: A mocking bird lunges at University of Florida biology major (I omitted her name) in an attempt to drive her away from its nest on the university’s campus in Gainesville. Mockingbirds may look pretty much alike to people, but they can tell us apart and are quick to react to folks they don’t like. Birds rapidly learned to identify people who had previously threatened their nests and sounded alarms, and even attacked those folks, even while ignoring others nearby, researchers report in today’s edition of Proceeding of the National Academy of Sciences.

Hello Anna

Thank you for your quick response!

I was sure we saw the Mama & Papa, however… there are WAY TOO MANY CATS around here and one in particular that visits our house daily.
We were too scared to put him down. So we tried making the nest knowing that this little guy could be found by his parents. However, when he fell again and was almost ‘gone’ we just couldn’t risk the neighborhood kitty or any others getting a hold of it.

We will keep bringing him outside and do what this other website suggested… it said to keep feeding him and he will let us know when he is ready for the regular food. Then to keep him out in the cage during the day with it locked for the first 7 days. Then after the 7 days, keep the cage open during the day and get him getting used to the other bird sounds. Then close at night to keep him safe. This way he can come and go as he gets braver, eventually he will not return

Even his mama/papa may start to come in and feed him themselves I hope!

Unfortunately, I found my dog had killed or found a baby mockingbird from around a jasmine bush. Since then, 2 adults have been attacking my dog. I have tried to take her out the front to keep away from the bush. I found another baby sitting on the top of the bush, but it was gone a couple hours later. I hope it flew away. Will they leave when all the babies are gone or could they still be expecting the one that is gone?

The Mocks spread their wings and the white stripe in their feathers flashes and this is how they startle insects on the ground. the insect moves and then they peck at it.

We have a mockingbird nest in a hanging basket on our back porch. The eggs only hatched a few days ago. Today I was trying to carefully water the plant without getting the nest wet when I realized the basket was full of ants! One began crawling on the babies (there are three) and it jumped as if it had been stung. I quickly put on a latex glove and removed the birds to a paper towel in a bowl. My husband is a vet and he got some bug spray he sells that is made with pyrethrins (from Crysanthemums) and I took the nest out and sprayed the underside of it. Not wanting to put them back in the ant infested pot, I got another nearby flowering plant, sprayed it with the spray, and put the nest and birds back in. My husband said the mother would never return, but she did. She looked at the new pot of flowers very suspiciously, but after seeing her brood there, she fed them the worm she had brought and went out for more. Now, after reading the other posts, I am worried about her pushing the babies out onto the patio. And I have a CAT. Any suggestions? None from you, Spatchula! (You do make me laugh, though.}

Little “Mockingbird” is adjusting well… flapping his little wings..he would of died if we didn’t take him in. He was half dead when my husband brought him to me. I dont’ know if maybe the mama or papa threw him out? As he didn’t seem to have been fed?

I put a spray mellet in the cage, seeds and scattered tiny pieces of blackberry to encourage him to feed himself and got a cricket (but not sure if I should just drop the cricket in there or smush him up? In the wild they have to catch them and thought it might be smart to just let the mockingbird see it jumping around the cage? He is also eating tiny pieces of blackberries with the baby bird formula… he is hanging outside right now getting used to all the birds/sounds… I have him right by our bird feeder so he can get used to is..
We wanted to put him back into the tree where he fell,… but its about 35 feet up! At least that is what we think…I took a pic of what I believe to be Mama or Papa at the top of our large Spruce Cone tree.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated… trying so desperately to get him out into his real world… he is just learning to fly now

Allison

Hello Anna!

Many thanks for your quick response ( ;

Is there an email I can send a photo to you of this little guy?

I read other websites that said to put some seed in the bottom of the cage, there are so many conflicting websites on Mockingbirds

I also read that they choose lower shrubs etc… but I saw this Mama or Papa going into near the top of our HUGE cone Spruce and this is where baby fell from… maybe this isn’t a Mockingbird at all.. sure looks like it though!

RE: Cricket.. should I drop it in the cage (its a mini cricket) or bring it to the Baby bird already dead?
I guess I should go and get some meal worms.. and from what I understand pinch the head so that it can’t hurt the baby bird?

Allison

The birds in the trees surrounding my house are chirping all day and night. I think they followed me from my previous house. They chirped day and night there too. I think it must have to do with mating because it happens in May. Hopefully they will all find mates as June is creeping up and I need some sleep. I have been concentrating on making the chirping be part of the process of falling asleep. I have had some luck by reducing my negative reactions and increasing positive thoughts. I repeat to myself – “The chirping is sleeping music and I am falling asleep”. I am trying to use Ekert Tolle’s “being in the now” philosophy. I’ll see where I am in a week.

I love my mockingbirds, even when they wake me at night with their songs. I grow bird peppers in my yard for the mockingbirds. These are small -1/4″ size very hot peppers. The nesting pair in my yard take my bird peppers and feed them to their young. It is quite extrodinary to see the parents with these flaming hot peppers in their mouths. Birds do not have capascin receptors so they can’t feel the heat of the peppers. And they spread more plants in the yard through their droppings.
Sophia- hot peper spray does not work for bird for this reason, it just may attract them!
They are quite social wtih other birds, working together to chase away predators.
In the evenings when an owl came to hunt in my backyard just at sunset the mockingbird, cardinal and bluejay would get togehter and attack him for about 15 minutes until it was dark.
The pair in my yard scream and make a racket when there is a snake near their nest. At that point I come out and chase it away and then they are calm.
They never bothered me near their nest until the babies were out and in the yard.

I was googling when do mockingbird chicks open their eyes and found this web page. Let me tell you my mockingbird story. For the past 2 winters on LI, NY I have had a mockingbird hang out in my holly shrubs that line a small front patio. I found out from a good friend that they eat fruits and insects. I started to put out on a small table raisins for it to eat over the winter months. I even put out some holly berries, which the bird ate last if there were raisins there too. This spring, one of my sons and I cleaned our gutters and dumped the pine needles into the foundation planting soil area. A few weeks later I wondered where the pile of needles disappeared to as I didn’t remove them. Lo and behold, I see a nest inside one of the hollies about 3′ from the ground, well protected by the branches and leaves and about 6′ from my front door. Now I have been offering raisins all winter long and now see this nest. The 2 parents are quite tolerant of me when I go outdoors and when there is no food out on that small table, they ‘peep’ to make me aware of it. One morning, as one of my sons was waiting for the school bus indoors, he kept hearing the peeping but didn’t know why the bird was doing it. Since my bedroom abuts the front patio, I finally heard it. I looked out the window and there was no food!! Smart critter…

One day I was not home and when I looked in the nest, there were 4 eggs, 3 were mockingbird eggs and one was the dreaded brown headed cowbird egg. I called the Theodore Roosevelt Bird Sanctuary in Oyster Bay and the Director told me about the cowbird and its behavior. Now I thought, I want just the mother to feed her own. How do I get rid of this parasite egg? I tried using a cake tester to break the egg, but no luck as it wasn’t sharp enough. Finally I used a hemostat (a scissor like clamp used to clamp tubing in hospitals) to try to remove it. I ended up cracking the egg and left it there. The next day, I saw the egg was gone and no debris was under the nest onto the soil. I guess the mother or father ate the egg. The eggs hatched within a week’s time and as of now I can see that they are looking more bird like and still haven’t opened their eyes. The down is sable colored and blends into the nest material which used as a lining those disappearing pine needles. I also upped the food on that small table and have even offered cut up raspberries, blueberries and black berries in addition to their favorite– the raisins. Whenever they see me they fly to the nearby trees and peep at me. They have never been aggressive towards me or any members of my family. I do not have any pets and my husband teases me and says those mockingbirds are your pets.

Mocks will not eat from bird feeders. The usually perfer bugs and I am happy for them to eat all the bugs in my yard. I keep the squirrls away from my feeders but putting out a feeder just for them. If you can get them used to corn that is great because it is cheaper but mine are spoiled on sunflower seeds.

The mocks in the hanging basket on our porch are about ready to leave. It has been so fun to watch them grow up. I look at and talk to them several times a day. They just look up at me. Parents don’t seem to mind but they ran a cat off this morning. My husband seldom talks to them and he did the other day and they all (three) flattened out and tried to hide.

I love mocking birds!

Where do they go in the Winter??

and…what is their life span???

The bird is beautiful, and I love to hear it sing (during the day). But last night I didn’t get much sleep. I guess it was one of the lonely male mockingbird that was really sad because he did’t have a mate. My dogs nor I got any sleep. I actually had to take a day off from work. I’m glad he doesn’t sleep at my house every night. And I will still continue to love the mockingbird.

The day after my last entry here, the chicks fledged the nest. Two days later I saw one at the edge of my driveway and it hopped into the lawn. I haven’t seen the other two so I am assuming they are still alive in my hollies well hidden.

I tried an experiment yesterday and fed my mockingbird parents a cut up honeydew cube and a cut up red grape. Within 10 minutes of me putting those 2 fruits down on the table, they were gone!! I guess birds like variety same as humans.

I read that mockingbirds fledge or leave the nest within 12 days of being born. The three chicks that were in my nest left on day 13. I have seen as of today 2 of them; can’t locate the 3rd one. I am assuming it is still alive and well hidden within my hollies. The parents are still feeding them and now the little ones are making cheeping noises for food. They are about 4 inches high now and are getting good at short hops and just a little bit of flight from the ground into the hollies.

I am a wildlife rehabilator in the state of North Carolina.I have at this time 2 very young mocking birds in my care.A mockingbirds life span is around 9 years given that they stay safe.The parents build their own nest and do not lay eggs in other nests.as far as the singing until dawn,unless he gets the girl,he will give up and move to another spot within a couple to 3 months.But he will return next year and the year after and so forth.Baby Mocking birds are very bad about jumping the nest too soon.but mom and dad will protect them with their life and continue too feed the wee ones for at least a year.If you really want to put an end too the late night music,go online and download a music file of a northern mockingbird singing,play it during the day,and your male mocking bird will move to another place too find his girl.They don’t like competition.So will move on if they hear the singing.

Some good news and sad news to report!! On Wednesday, June 17th, one of the mockingbird chicks was run over by a car in front of my house. I guess it couldn’t fly away fast enough and probably the driver didn’t see it. I buried it among my front foundation planting. The good news is that the remaining 2 chicks are still alive and Mama is keeping an eye on them and still feeding them raisins from my front patio table.

I found this site while searching for information about fighting mockingbirds. Interestingly, there isn’t much on how aggressive they are towards one another. I witnessed a fight this morning on our lawn of two young ones. I thought it looked like a fight to the death. It lasted for quite a while and the screaming going on was startling. They were in a beak hold, flapping their wings on the ground until I thought they’d snap! We have had these birds in abundance over the years. I’ve never seen this behavior. Anyway, my husband and I love the songs and love to watch the babies flit around, and parents rush to them with food. We think they know us and are not at all aggressive towards us. There are plenty of females because there are never any night songs. We live in Florida where there are a lot of hawks and black birds, so we’ve seen the mocks gang up on them. We have a pet Love Bird. The Mocks can imitate him to perfection, so while Baby, the Love Bird, is chirping, the Mocks will engage in what seems to be a conversation! I think Baby believes it too!

i live in midtown manhattan and have a roof garden in which a mockingbird pair have a nest and 2 or 3 babies, maybe hatched about 1 week ago. problem is, i cannot go out on the roof garden because of the dive bombing parents! a pair nested there 2 years ago but there was not the same problem; they seemed to get used to us. so, i read in another posting that they fledge at 12 days or so. how long before they are gone and i can enjoy my roof garden again?

The mockingbird in my neighborhood has been singing 24/7 for a week now (not just at night). I hope he finds a girlfriend soon.

Any idea why would a mockingbird throw himself at our sunroom window day after day?

We live just north of the Bronx and many mockingbirds abound.

In April there was a wave of mockingbird calls throughout our town and then it subsided.

Now it is late June and another wave appears to be happening evermore rapturously even.

Is it the beginning of another mating season?

A mockingbird has tried to swoop down on me and my dog while we’re walking; will it attack my dog, by biting?

I have had a lot of experience with mockingbirds, they have been all around here ever since I can remember. I have seen them swoop down at cats before and humans as well, but one experience facinated me. The lady across the street was taking care of a few of her daughters cats for the summer. There was no problem at all with any of the cats except there was this one who was a long haired variety, a darkish gray color. Well, the mockingbirds targeted this one cat for some reason. No one could understand why the other cats had no problems but every time this long haired one stepped out the front door of his house, the mockingbirds started attacking him. I finally came to the conclusion that the mockingbirds had a nest nearby (which is usually the reason they attack anyway) but these birds perceived the cat as a racoon due to his appearance. Racoons LOVE eggs and they thought he was going to climb the tree and eat the eggs in the nest. I couldnt come up with any other explanation for this one. The cat was very much chagrined that the only time he could go outside with impunity was during the night hours. Thank you and hope you enjoyed this story

So I’ve read over almost every blog here and noticed many have been in the same predicament as I’m in now. I have a bachelor mockingbird that won’t go away or be quiet. However my question is how long is the mating season. The only reason I ask this is that it’s now into the month of July and he’s been singing nonstop since around May!!!! This couple of weeks thing isn’t matching up to his time clock!! He’s perched himself in a large redwood right behind my house and during the day changes to the lightpole in the street. I can understand him wanting a mate but he hasn’t found one and won’t give up like I’ve read he’s supposed to. Either he’s one tenatious bachelor or he’s partially retarded. Either way when will he migrate and leave me in peace?

Hi, I am taking care of a baby mocking bird that I rescued afew weeks ago from my neighbors driveway. When I found it there were 2 and their eyes were still closed. Sadly, one of them ended up dieing, but the other one is doing great! I am feeding it baby bird formula that I got from Petsmart and it is working fine, but its getting older.I know that you can feed it worms and other insects. He doesnt seem to like the change in taste. I am planning to release him when he is old enough. Can mockingbirds eat seeds? If not, what type of foods can I feed him? Fruits?
Thank you so much!!

Kimberly

Yes they love raisins and dried cherries…..LOVE THEM!

The mockingbird has long been my favorite songbird. There is one question I have and then an observation that I made. Question – I saw and heard a lone mockiingbird on the top of a telephone pole (I live in New York State) and it kept jumping up about 12″ – 18″ in the air and come back to rest on the pole. The intervals between hops seemed too regular to be chance. My first thought was that it had a nest on top of the pole, but that would seem unlikely considering what I’ve read about them. From the few descriptions I’ve read of this type of behavior, it seems as if the bird may simply be jumping up to catch insects. Your thoughts would be appreciated.
My observation was both interesting and sad. A couple of years ago, I noticed a huge, beautiful Luna Moth by the side of a building. Unfortunately a mockingbird had noticed it, too. The bird was darting around making passes at the moth. I didn’t want to stay and see what happened (I was also driving my car), but I assume that the moth got the “short end of the stick” and the bird got a banquet to eat. It’s nice to find this site.
Walter

We have several mockingbirds that visit our house in Fredericksburg, VA. They very much enjoy the raisins I put in some of our feeders and the blackberry bushes near our two driveways. I’ve even found them to be quite playful with me, often gently “tagging” me on the arm or leg with a wing as they swoop past. They’ve even flown inside our garage (my workshop) to do this, then swooped right back out again. Last night though, things got a little crazy. I do construction for a living, and my truck has one of those “beep beep beep” backup alarms. One mock has started imitating this sound, and was perched on top of the truck doing it at 2:30 this morning. Then another mock started singing nearby, imitating the “chirp” sound of my Nextel phone. I joked with my girlfriend that if a woodpecker showed up the neighbors were going to think we had a construction job going on at night, with trucks backing up, walkie-talkies and jackhammers. 🙂

Most birds do have at least one clutch in the springtime and they mature before the winter arrives. Mockingbirds may have 2 clutches if the 1st clutch is born early enough. Where I am, the mockingbirds do not migrate as some other birds do to warmer climates when winter arrives. They eat the berries of hollies and European barberry bushes in the winter.

Hi, I was wondering if there is anyway at all to tell a female from a male mockingbird apart? If so, please tell me. I have an orphan baby mocking bird and would like to know if it is a girl or boy. Thank you!!

Hi, I was wondering how to let a mockingbird go? I have a mockingbird that is almost ready to go. How can I prepare him for the wild? He can eat live crickets on his own and dryed mealworms. Has anyone let a mockingbird go? Also, at what age do mockingbirds leave their parents? He’s alittle bit over 5 weeks old and has all his feathers and can fly but, Im afraid that he wont beable to feed hmself. Please give me any ideas on how I can let him go or how you might of let one go?? Thank you so much!!!!

Kimberly

Ok thank you! I will

Thank you so much for answering. Maybe you can help me with another question then. What age is a good age to start putiing his cage outside with the door open? My baby mockingbird is about 6weeks old. Im afriad he wont find food on his own. Will he figure it out?

Has anyone ever heard the call of a whippoorwill in a mocking bird’s repertoire?
I’m facinated to read about all of the different non-bird sounds that have been heard from mockingbirds. I live out in the country and my favorite mechanical sound made by a mocking bird is the sound big transfer trucks make when they are shifting gears (down shifting I think). Sort of a ‘ruhruhruhruhruh”.

It would be interesting to know how long it takes a mocking bird to learn a new sound/song. Anyone ever tried teaching a mocking bird a mechanical sound? Is it known whether or not if there are any musical instruments that a mocking bird could imitate?

I would think a flute or similar wind instrument would come close to bird sounds. A banjo or mandolin maybe; something with some torch and twang to it. Can you teach a mockingbird the melody to a song?

Hi my name is jack and I was wondering how do i do to know my mockingbird’s gender? and also at what age do they start singing? … and If I can help it to sing by playing my radio or anything like that .. thanks!

Thanks kimberly.
I appreciate your help. although honestly I didn’t express myself right on my question. What I meant it was there has to be a way physically speaking of knowing the gender of my mockingbird.

like on my canaries I would only have to check their private parts ;),at a certain age and if their part was flat then I would know it was a female and if they would have it like stiking out then they would be males.

does anybody know if the mocks are the same way? … thanks in advance!

A number of years ago while our daughter was mowing her lawn, she ran over a baby bird which had fallen out of the dryer vent above the garage ( it had no feathers yet). She picked it up, put it on a washcloth and took it to the vet. Fortunately, it only had a cut on one of its nails. She starting feeding the bird milk and bread, graduating to worms, which she cut in small pieces. She put the bird in a cage and as it grew and started to flap its wings she felt it was time to let it go. For the rest of the summer, when she would be out mowing or doing other yard work, it would fly down and sit on her shoulder. It was something to see. Then it stopped coming, which saddened her as she thought maybe something had happened to it. We told her it probably found a mate and started a family. It was a mocking bird.

Hi, I’m wondering if there’s any way mockingbird videos can be sent to you so you can use them on your website? Do you have the capability to allow people to play a video from your site? I took a couple of short video today and I’m looking to do more. Thanks.
Walter

Am I to assume that since there was no response to my inquiry about sending in mockingbird videos that it isn’t something that you’re considering? I wonder if anyone else feels that sending them in would be a worthwhile idea. Thanks.
Walter

Thanks. I’ll work on that.
Walter

Why is it that “my” mockingbird disappears every summer and reappears in the fall. What is their liefspan? Am I crazy in assuming that it’s the same bird who’s been returning to the same tree year after year for the past few years? (I live in Southern New Jersey.) Thanks.

I’m posting this random mockingbird video to see if I can understand what Walter’s glitch might be: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-mOsezFIgw

For several days this week I’ve been charmed by a mocking bird singing around one of the entrances to the building where I work at a university here. This critter can go indefinitely without repeating a pattern, except that each call is done twice, then on to the next.

You find yourself wondering, “When does this character ever take a breath?”

Then, in the middle of an extended cadenza of mimics consisting of sweet, melodious, and intricate musical gymnastics came two croaking squawks I later recognized as “grackle speak.”

I nearly fell down laughing, it was such an unexpected departure from the rest of the song.

So I’m doing research at my school because we’re reading “To Kill A Mockingbird” and I was wondering how mockingbirds learn to copy noises they hear. Do their parents teach them or do they just somehow know how to?

Mockingbirds are mimicks. The more they hear something, the better they are at repeating it. Just like a parrot, you repeat it enough, it learns to say what it hears.

Mockingbirds have been known to mimick car alarms, chain saws, and door bells but mostly other birds.

thankyou so much!!

Yes!!! My Husband is from the Dominican Republic-and he told me that ruiseñor is its name there. The mockingbird has always been his favorite bird—-mine too!!! They have such character and sing amazing!

this northern mockingbird is the awsome bird in the wholr tirer world p3oples. thank u for the aportunity 2 s33 a mocking bird in florida… m3 & this boy ar3 going out his nam3 is illy h3 is 13 yoa…………….. this is an really cool website ………….. Smil3 big p3opl3s..!.!.!.!

forgot to mention in my question above: we live in Fairfax County, VA. The bird is mostly gray & the reason I say there might be 2 birds is because sometimes I see a fluffier bird up on the window-sill; other times it seems like a more slender looking one, but definitely gray with a long tail & possibly white coloring too. Any comments/feedback is appreciated! –Melanie

is the mockingbird Florida’s state bird?

Back in 2005, I was living with my parents. I’m a birder, so I set up my feeders around their yard. I placed one in the back near a grouping of various bushes, shrubs and little trees. I started noticing a mockingbird hanging out by the feeder. I named him “Moe” and my parents and I really enjoyed watching him. He (or she?) really did not make any noises or interact with the other birds, just kind of hung out and seemed to be a quiet “overseer” of the feeder (even though he does not eat from it). He also liked to perch on our neighbor’s fence near the feeder. I moved out in 2006 and took my feeders with me. My dad really missed seeing his birdie friends, so for Father’s Day, I bought him some small feeders that they placed in the front yard. Well, this past Christmas (2009), I brought a ground feeder to him and they placed it out back by those same bushes and shrubs. Today is January 23, 2010 and I am visiting my parents. Lo and behold, it appears that “Moe” is back! I wondered if it really could be him, found this website and learned they have an eight year life span, so it probably is really him! I was so glad to see my old friend and my parents are delighted to see him again too. Its just funny that he only shows up when there is a feeder to watch over.

There are a pair of mockingbirds i see every couple of days behind my work when I get off of or go to the bus. Whenever I can I get as close to them as I can and make little noises at them. So far no reply but they know that I’m not going to hurt them. My little grey friends always brighten my day when I get a chance to share a cigarette with them and toss them a few berries. I want to find the nest as I’m sure it’s close by. I won’t touch it or disturb it in any way I promise, I just want a chance to see the eggs hatch. I know one of them was getting pretty plump for a while and now she’s been a bit scarce.

Melanie,

You might not be looking at different birds. When songbird get hungry many species tend to fluff out a bit but then smooth their feathers back down.

Marsha,

that may or may not be the same bird. They all look almost exactly the same. The reason you see him more is because there is commotion in his territory and he is making sure certain “trouble maker” species don’t come around and cause problems for him.

Orion,

Not sure where you live but you might not hear to much singing for a few months. They tend to stay quiet during the winter months. There are many neurological and biological reasons why. Also you wont see a nest for a bit since they have no reason to have one until the female currently there chooses the male again or he finds a different female to mate with. Their breeding habits are extremely interesting. About the same time is when you are going to hear a whole lot of singing.

Rebecca,

Dont give him/her bread please. They dont have the stomach to process it right. But they will love the delicious berries.

Final thought is I read most of this and Mike sounds like a good guy and heart in the right place but his knowledge is pretty limited. I have studied them as a model for a PhD and they are immensely interesting birds.

I love all birds and the mockingbird is Florida’s state bird. This is my state, born here and probably always reside here. I love all birds and have raised many. In my homestead and sanctuary, I have found that all god’s creatures have a reason just as humans to live on this planet and we should respect what they are and what they give us each day. What we learn from them and each other should be used. Taking the gratitude, postitively, actively ingesting it into our lives, so we may love each other, nature and all of what god has intended to give to us each day. Let’s not pass judgement on others thoughts or reason but imbrace the knowledge and love the birds in our life. (metaphoracly speaking, more than just the birds) Namaste

Hey!! savannah and agnes here!! were bored and learning about mockingbirds!!!

we have a bird pecking at the car windows back and forth to the car’s in the parking lot now does he see him self or does he think its another bird he stayed four hour’s at the car’s i think its a mocking bird car i send a picture to someone to find out ty

We just had a new utility pole erected in our backyard last week and this mockingbird has decided to make it his territory. It has been singing day and night for a week now. In fact, because of the start of spring season and the mildly warm temperatures here in LA recently, there has been a migration of birds into our neighborhood. I actually kind of enjoy it because it’s a bit too quiet around here and having some sounds of nature doesn’t bother me at all. It’s also fascinating peering into their habitat using my pair of binoculars which I yet have found a good use for until now.

Love the website! I’ve always enjoyed mockingbirds; as young as 4 yrs old I was told by my grandma to leave her birds alone… She was developing arthritis, and eventually became bed-fast when I was in jr high. “Her” mockingbirds were a constant source of amusement and entertainment, as they were right outside her bedroom window, and while she could still turn over by herself, she would watch them all day long.
I guess I grew up with the sounds and enjoyed watching the dive-bombing on the dogs or cats that wandered to that side of the house. So mockingbirds at midnite don’t bother me (the neighbors dog on the other hand! :/
I haven’t personally been “attacked” and would probably laugh if it happened, but I can sympathize for those who have to put up with it. Thanks for your info, and website…

I want to kill the mockingbird keeping me up all night but I’ve yet to figure out how. My god, it’s loud!! It is also quite crafty and plays games with me. The first pinecone I chucked into the tree worked! Silence for the night. On the second night, the bird would stop chirping when I’d open the door. I still chucked two pinecones in its vicinity, but it would re-appear. Again, I’d open the door, aim, fire the pinecone, but two minutes later it was back. Time to up the arsenal…

I love nature, but my sleep is more important.

I have a wonderful Mocking Bird Story! I have a female Mocking Bird that stalks us, she sits out side in my yard singing the most beautiful songs in the morning, or when ever she wants me to feed her. I read they love apple slices, so I sleced some Granny Smith Apples, she loves them! She does not like Black Sun Flower seeds, but loves kids cereal, Pizza Hut Pizza crust. When I first heard her in our yard singing, I decided to throw out bread for her, now we have a regular visitor that will fly into our garage, wait for her food on my bike! She has even been brave enough to take food from my hand!

Coming out of work one day, I found a small baby bird that had apparently fallen from his nest. He was too small to survive on his own, and with the amount of foot and automobile traffic, there is no way he would live through the night. I put him is a box with a few small holes for air and put him in the break room. As I was leaving, with him in the box, I went by PetsMart and purchased the smallest cage they had. Like so many of us, I got on the Internet searching for what to feed him. The best advice I could find was to mix some baby food, dog food, and a hard boiled egg mixed and fed to him. There were no instructions on where to go from there. My husband decided to “mix up” our own recipe. He mixed ground oatmeal, ground wheat, fruit baby food, and soft puppy food. After experimenting, we found that a pair of tweezers seemed to work best. The tweezers were just about the same size as the mom’s beak. That started our odyssey of two-hour feedings, water with a medicine dropper, and lots more TLC. In looking for a quite, warm place for him to sleep, we put him in the laundry room. One night turned into a week, and the week turned to a month. We found out that he was a mocking bird.

In another month we had to buy him a larger cage. We searched for a workable water dish. We found a rectangular plastic Rubber MaidÒ storage container. It was perfect for his ‘pool’ and water dish. With a couple of drops of vitamins and fresh water every day, he really took off growing. He graduated from homemade baby food to mealworms with the tweezers and water dropper. One day we decided to work on teaching him to eat and drink on his own. Within weeks, he was eating baby foods and enjoying getting around in his cage. One day he discovered he could get into and out of his water dish. He took his first bath. He was on his way to becoming an adult bird. One thing that disappointed us was that he no longer wanted to be held, finger fed, or playing on our hands. The implication was clear: he decided that he would no longer be a domesticated pet. My husband purchased more of the limbs from the pet store. The bird wasn’t too sure about these things that had suddenly sprouted in his apartment. With a little jumping on and off of them he found out he liked the idea after all. Not only did he live through the nights, weeks, and months, he celebrated his first year birthday before we could really get a grip on how fast he was growing.

It had been our intention to catch and release him when we could. However, we found that he had something wrong with his right side wing. It just didn’t seem to function well. We would let him fly in the room where he lived. He would fly around his room and back to the cage. At first, he could only fly one way across the room and landing on a lampshade, or picture frame. Within a couple of months he was able to stay out of the cage longer. For way too many flights ended up with him landing on the floor and resting before he could fly up to his cage. It surely didn’t look that he could survive in the wild.

That was over three years ago. Now is a problem we do not know how to handle. Yesterday, the bird has come up lame on the left side. He will not put any weight on that foot, nor will he use his left wing. He has not been out of the cage in the last four to six days. He still sings, but now he lies on the floor of the cage all the time. When he does get around, it’s with great difficulty. We don’t know if he somehow broke something or what. Does any one know of this problem or any remedy? We appreciate any help you can suggest.

********NOISE SOLUTION

I have noises from other causes such as the nearby freeway and loud neighbors. There is a great lightweight fan called the WINDMACHINE that puts out three different speeds that creates the perfect “white noise” and allows me to sleep through anything. I place the fan in the doorway pointed away from the bed, put it on high and it’s just perfect. Maybe you can try this solution for the bird calls!!

I found a baby mocking bird on the ground a few days ago, I tried to return it to it’s nest, however the nest had three other babies in it so it was over crowded and the baby fell out again, at that point I watched it on the ground for about an hour to see if the parents would feed it and they did not. I then took the little bird in my house and began feeding it soaked cat food so far it has been doing great! I did read on the internet that once hand raised you can not return them to the wild is that true?

Hi Mike… great website. My father’s favorite bird was the mockingbird, and when he died on July 25, 1994, it was raining lightly, in Gainesville, FL. I looked out the window and two mockingbirds were doing their ‘dance.’ It was a moment I’ll never forget, and whenever I see a mockingbird I know Dad’s saying ‘Hi.’ Keep up the good work.

Hi Mike,

Great site thanks for it. I started reading the comments and while many of them are wonderful and dear to my nature-loving heart, there is the other side which always has to be negative, ignorant and nasty.

When will people get it into their selfish heads that nature is a gift and we with our selfish intentions for our own wants are the intruders?

I have a Mockingbird in my area and to me it is a gift from God. I have been totall mesmerized by this unique natural phenom. Yet, I read letters of people whining about “noise”. Some of these whiners are people who live in urban areas rife with mechanical sounds day and night which I would prefer to “kill”.

Instead of researding methods to insulate the sounds coming into their homes, they think they have a right to move or even destroy the animals who live there.

We are living on a planet that is slowing being destroyed by this ignorant manner of thinking that man rules everything. The only way we are going to succeed and evolve is to learn from creatures far more wise and sane than we are.

And yes, I love to hug trees (as if that’s an insult or something).

Thank you for listening.

Mockingbirds are extremely hateful! ): My aunt was once attacked by a mockingbird last summer. It flew off of the top of the house and aimed straight towards her head! She now has a huge fear of birds

Hi Little Soul. I’ve been hearing Mocking Birds every morning when I take Chin out and decided to read up up them. They are amazing! Thought you would enjoy reading this.

Love Mom

This site is quite interesting. Our backyard is adjacent to a field. We have several mockingbirds on the wires behind the house, and, I don’t think I realized how noisy they could me to someone until my husband got hearing aids 🙂

Anyway, I was looking for information because a couple of weeks ago, I saw a bird collecting twigs to make a nest. I didn’t realize the next was being built in my ivy on the porch. Yikes!

We were able to verify there were 3 eggs on May 11th. On May 22nd, we had one hatch and by early next morning they had all broken free of their shells. I have never seen baby birds and was quite enthralled at one rolling about in the nest with a little hat stuck to its head.

I acquired some chicks and had just moved them outdoors and was in the process of building their coop when I found the nest. What I find amazing is that she doesn’t seem to be bothered by me. She stayed on her eggs even though I was only a few feet from her unless I directly stared in her direction or a loud voice was heard.

Similarly, since the babies hatched she seems to be alert, but not afraid of me. She doesn’t stay on the nest like she did before and will “flash” me when I peek into the nest, but she doesn’t seem overly concerned by my presence and I have gotten some good (not great) pics. Her nest is a little more than 5 feet in the air and its hard to be sneaky when you are short.

My concern is her need to travel to feed the babes. She flits from her nest to the fence dividing our yard and the neighbors, to the tree and to the back fence, then the field. Unfortunately, the neighbor has been gone for several days and when that happens her cats fend for themselves.

I need to be in the backyard to take care of the garden and chickens but don’t want to roust her from her nest because of the cat. What to do?

Dennis …
Seems fast to me, too. However, I believe that I read average 12 days to hatch and 12 days to fledge. Though, it seems I read something about them flitting around in the tree or shrub for a little bit (don’t know how long) before they were off and running.

The babies in our yard hatched on the 22nd. In the last few days they have grown fast, fast, fast. I couldn’t see them in the nest without standing on a chair, and now, when I walk by I see a long neck reaching for food when I walk by. Incredible 🙂

I have not slept for three months and I am making a lot of mistakes at work This website has solved my nightmare I am going to record the screeching sound of the Blue Jay found on the internet and jack up the speakers and turn it on as soon as the mocker comes on at 12:00 midnight. I am afraid I am going to get into an accident because I am now so edgy, jittery, nervous and on the edge – I can only take so much of sleepless nights – I am walking around like a ZOMBIE!!!!

Thanks to the tip posted above, back in 2008.

Marti – There is a barrier called Tanglefoot. It is a sticky barrier to keep crawling insects out of trees, and I think it would work well around the base of the stake as well. No chemical, just sticky stuff

I have certainly learned a lot reading through this site. My cat and all the neighborhood cats, hawks and basically any other creature have been terrorized by mockingbirds for the past 2-3 months. It has gotten to the point where my cat no longer wants to go outside for more than a few minutes. I think the mockingbird babies are grown now and have left the nest, so she is no longer being dive-bombed and knocked over but is still afraid to go out much. However – for the past 2 weeks I have had NO SLEEP due to the constant LOUD singing of one of the males in a tree in my backyard. It starts around 11:30 or 12 PM and goes to 6-6:30 AM. I guess this would be great if I worked a night shift but it’s been just terrible for me and my daughter. No amount of throwing wood chips up at the tree stops it, either. Last night I tried ear plugs and pillows over my head and ears but it still could not block out the sound. Assuming this male sired the ones in the nest, would he be ready to mate again so soon? There appear to be a few mockingbirds flying around, but only one is making this sound all night. If the other one is female, why aren’t they getting together?

Thanks Marcia. I will try to find this TANGLEFOOT. Just letting you all know that the midnight serenades from the mocking birds is music to our ears. My husband loves their songs (my husband is a songwriter and composer). He is amazed at their variety of songs.

Should have known it was a mocking bird, about 5 or so different calls cycling through the evening, night, morning… Our first encounter of one.

I like nature, but this thing isn’t nature, it’s demented… I’d have my wife makeout with it, if it would get it to shutup.

Solution: I can’t kill it, but I can kill myself.

*Note – Why didn’t we add that basement again? The extra $50k would have paid for itself by now.

Ok, ok, all joking aside… they’re really nice original looking birds; our pest is a Northern Mockingbird. In the car, with the bass all the way turned up, I love them.

BTW, I’m allergic, but can I borrow your cat? Thx.

Or do you know where I can purchase one of those blow-up female Mockingbirds? That would be so nice, I’d invest $50k to whoever wants to develop one and sell them on this site, we’d make a killing. Thx again!!!

Marti S – Tanglefoot is NOT a bird repellent. It is a sticky substance that goes on the base of the tree. It is specifically made to keep crawling pest like ants and catepillars from getting into the canopy of the plant. It is not toxic. nothing eats it, they just get stuck. Birds can easily get out if they were to get in it, and it is a green product.

we have a mockingbird nest in our backyard. one baby fell out or was pushed out and died this morning. is there something we can do to make sure they grow up and fly. i heard they go to ground before they learn to fly and i have to large dogs what can i do to help them? just what them to live.

I’ve done a lot of research on male mockingbirds because I’ve had one outside of my house for the last seven weeks. I know they sing to attract a mate, but I’ve seen him approach at least six different female mockingbirds and get shot down every time. How long will his mating calls last? From what I’ve seen posted on different forums, the average time seems to be three-four weeks before they pair off or give up hope. I’m at seven! Do I have a rogue mockingbird who will forever sing? Is there anything I can do? He just seems to be getting louder and louder, and nothing drowns him out anymore.

Hi Roe,
Yes it is common for male and female mockingbirds to feed their young. Also the ‘ganging up’ on predators like cats is called mobbing. Its usually done with other birds like blue jays, or crows or ravens that are also predators to birds in nests, but cats can get their share of mobbing too. The juvenile mockingbirds will be as large as the adults but will have brown spots across their breasts instead of the solid white color seen in those with the adult plumage. And, yes, mockingbirds are very people tolerant.

hello Mike;
I am in New Jersey, and there’s a baby mockingbird that keeps falling out of the nest. he lands right on the concrete steps or the side walk in front of my house. it started yesterday, i picked him up, found the nest and what appears to be the mom, put the baby back in nest. today, twice so far, there he is again. i don’t know what to do with/for it. can you advise?
right now he is outside, in a clear box and no top (in the shade). he has water (i also give him some with a plastic syringe, and wild bird seeds.
i feel bad because i don’t know what to do…can you advise, please.
thank you,
Lynne

Lynne, most likely that little bird has fledged the nest and no longer needs to be inside it. This fledging takes about 13 days from the time it is hatched to then leaving the nest.
Mama and Papa will be on the look out for this little one. If you see it out in the open, you can put it under a shrub. It needs to learn to forage for itself; but Mama and Papa are able to feed it. In my experience, I did manage to give a little newly fledged mockingbird a raising cut up that I popped into its beak. As they get more used to foraging, they will refuse food from humans. HTH.

well when you have to get up early and you get NO sleep at all, night after night. Its waking your child up, then sorry you feel that way, but I dont think its mean. Lots of people dislike something, but now a days, its not PC to say so. I however dont care. I hate the birds. Im tired of being tired. My neighbors tired of picking up all my crap from her yard that I throw to attempt ONE nights sleep. Its amazing what you’ll do when your sleep deprived!! Oh, send me your address, I’ll catch the loud little poop and mail him to you and you can listen to him ALL night.

Im old Ive earned the right to be angry or crabby it I want to lol. Amazon sounds?? wouldnt that be birds or something like that? I welcome someone or something to throw back. Im not the only one who’s said they cant stand these birds, Im just stating MY opinion. Id love to be so at one with nature, but Im not. And lets not start a ‘pray’ on it discussion. This is about birds, dont put your religious view in here thanks. Oh but to make you feel better, I love ocean life, and trees, and a beautiful rainbow on a rainy/sunny day. I had a blue jay nest in my back yard that I watched every day, til the babies flew away. I teach my son who’s five to respect bugs and animals and all that stuff. I just would like a good night sleep and I dont think tossing a newspaper into a tree is hurting anyone. I have never hit the birt,and for the the most part Im all talk.

signed,

Sleepless in Lodi

my cat brought in a mockingbird today, its not bleeding but it cant fly. im not sure what to do. any suggestions would help a lot :] ty

Hey Mock Killer – you do NOT love nature and birds. If you did, you would not have killed an innocent creature who was doing only what God and nature intended for him to do.

All year long these birds fight a battle to survive. A battle that you in your warm home with plenty to eat and optimal conditions to reproduce cannot possibly comprehend.

ONCE A YEAR, they must fight to reproduce so their species will survive. Their bodies go through changes to gear up for this, their behavior changes, and every cell of their body is focused on finding a mate and raising young. Part of this includes singing for many hours and days at a time.

And yet us selfish humans, who have so much, cannot abide a few weeks of perhaps disturbed sleep. We try to justify it with foolish and selfish thoughts but in the end, the almighty human selfishness takes precedence and we react in the way we have for thousands of years: we kill and destroy.

But at least now you and your children can now sleep at night and another bird lies dead, its life and its future snuffed out and another creature of beauty gone from this world.

all i can say is “karma”!!!!

LOL….yes indeed–let’s do that :^)….that should be the motto here~

Awwwww ur very welcome & thanks for your sweet & kind words, Mike :). You brightened my day!!!!! Are u on facebook??

Ohhh cool–under your name? or mockingbirds??

oops-nevermind—i just found ur page and clicked “like” 🙂

TO: C. Moreno – You know that house you live in… the wood came from a tree where a mocking bird used to live. You displaced a bird so you could be comfortable! Those fruits and vegetables you ate… there used to be a forest there before it was a farm field, birds used to live there, they are dead now because you need to eat. You drive a car… that metal came from a strip mine where a forest used to be, mocking birds used to live there. The oil that made the gas in your car… animals where killed to drill for it. You know that road you drove down today, that used to be a forests where mocking birds lived. Your need for convenient travel took away mocking birds habitat. Should I go on? You get the idea! Snap into reality… Everything in your life caused animals to be displaced or killed. You should go live in a forest, oh that wont work, you might take away some seeds that a mocking bird might eat.

TO: Heather Moore – Comment in regards this quote –
“almighty human selfishness takes precedence and we react in the way we have for thousands of years: we kill and destroy.”

Heather, you wouldnt be here on this earth if humans wouldnt have killed and destroyed for thousands of years.

To all tree huggers. Below are only a few examples of what people say on this blog. Sorry for ya if everything on this blog isnt rosy perfect for you. Mocking birds are wonderful in their environment but they are a bother to people trying to live their life’s, living outside peoples windows, in populated areas where horrible humans live.

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Anyone know how to silence a mockingbird that has been sitting on my chimney for three weeks It squaks and sings all day and most of the night.thats all we can hear in our livingroom. Is there anything that will scare it away to another spot?

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We are going stir crazy with sleep deprivation. We have a mockingbird that has not shut up for 1 week straight. Day and night. He wakes us up all night long. He sits somewhere in a tree in our nieghbors back yard. It has come to the point that we want to shoot it. There is nothing more soothing than listening to chirping birds in the mornings. But this is absolutley ridiculous. What do we do.

———————–
Oh the humanity! There has been the most annoying mockingbird who has been singing non-stop, day and night for the past FIVE weeks! So all night long from midnight to 8am all I hear is a car alarm going off 10 feet from my bedroom!

—————
well when you have to get up early and you get NO sleep at all, night after night. Its waking your child up, then sorry you feel that way, but I dont think its mean. Lots of people dislike something, but now a days, its not PC to say so. I however dont care. I hate the birds. Im tired of being tired.

———————–
I hate these birds with a passion that I cannot put into words. It starts bout midnight give or take and doesnt stop all day. I cant sleep!! I have tried turning on my A/C while wearing my iPOD to bed and I can still hear it. I need to know how to get it to SHUT up. All day they skwak and fight with with blue jays. Anyone have any ideas short of a BB gun to get rid of this little sh*t??

Boy ohh boy –you’re one angry person!!!! Why don’t u create your own blog?? So u can hate everything there!!! You’re so negative and sarcastic! Your make more noise than any bird—with all of your complaining and whining–yikes. Heather was right–we need to ignore the “turkeys” –yes–it’s a double meaning in case ur wondering. U get what ya give!!!! BTW-what u said to me didn’t bother me at all. U must have nothing else better to do than to come here and be negative. Well-no one can supress my freedom of speech–I’m proud to be a treehugger-and mockingbirds are special!!!!!!!

‘Sock Puppets’ snicker!! Just ignore the troll and he’ll go back under his bridge (hopefully serenaded by the mockingbirds!) snicker!!

It amazes me that the people who are so annoyed by the night songs of mockingbirds don’t realize that they are just focusing on the noise way too much. Anything can become an annoyance if all you do is dwell on it and fuel your agony, which in turn fuels your anger. It’s psychological my dear Watson.

If you still can’t get over it, take a sleeping pill, sleep in another room of the house or just cut the darn tree down (but plant two in its place way away from your bedroom window).

Another experience we had here in our backyard not long ago was of a nest built in our oaktree in the backyard. We’ve been living in this house for four years and come march we always get a pair of mocking birds that nest in this oak tree. Anyhow, as I was outside enjoying the afternoon with my twin boys. I noticed one of the birds not sure if it was momma bird or poppa bird making a distinctive sound that I haven’t heard before. I look at the tree and it’s wings are spread out and it’s quickly maneuvering around in the tree. As I get a closer look I see there’s a rat snake in the tree. Now the nest had nestlings in it and the mockingbird was doing it’s best to keep the snake from getting to them. The unusual sound it made ( which I now call a call of distress for snake!) quickly called in the other mate and both were fitting it together. Now, here where this story takes an unusual twist. Usually these two birds would fight off any neighboring mockingbirds with quick swift flight rushes and bombardments. Would you believe that this sound was basically like an alarm for all other birds to come help in the ad of getting rid of this snake. I counted 4 pairs in total, that’s 8 mockingbirds defending this nest in unison, side by side of each other. Then to make things even more strange a pair of black grackles and a shrike also helped with the defense of the nest. Now given, it is nesting season and a snake is a threat to all nesting birds. The birds may have very well just been acting on the threat of a snake nearby but the mockingbirds unusual call for ” snake” attracted not only birds of his own species but also birds of different species. It was amazing for me to watch this, how this pair allowed all these birds in this small oak tree help rid of the danger to it’s nest. Shrikes and grackles themselves will raid a nest with small nestlings in them. These baby birds were almost fledglings so they were probably a little large to be a meal to any of these birds but still it was a first for me to see. I tried my best not to intervene and allow nature to take it’s course. The rat snake decided it was to much trouble to get to these baby birds especially when birds kept attacking it’s rear. And made it’s way down the tree and into a nearby bush. After all was clear all the birds left and everything went back to normal. Nature never ceases to amaze me and just when you think you’ve seen it all you’re surprised once again by her.
Thanks, Tico

Thanks Tico for the great story about your pet mockingbird. I truly believe that we are here to protect God’s creatures and that they manage to bring us some joy into our lives.
The story about the snake was very interesting too. Amazing how animals will unite against a common enemy when the danger is near.

Thanks everyone for the kind words. I recently purchased a panasonic sdr- t50 with 78x optical zoom. I live all of ten minutes from Everglades national park. I plan on using the camera lots come this fall and winter. I’d like to get film of them in the brush. I plan to start recording in a place called long pine key. They’re so many mockingbirds out there all at once, it’s really a spectacle to watch. I will update on this site once I have a few recordings.
Thanks again,
Tico

I would think the easiest, though not most attractive solution would be to temporarily cover the kickplate. Perhaps a piece of cardboard?

I haven’t read all the previous postings but read enough to know many people have the same problem I had with a lone Mockingbird singing all night long while dancing on top of a telephone pole. I took a portable tape recorder out and recorded the bird one night. The following night, after he started his “show”, I opened my door and played the recording. He would dive toward me and then fly away. I only had to do this a few times before he decided to permanently move 2 blocks away to perform his midnight show. Now I sleep in peace.

My condolences to you and your family at this difficult time Tico.

So sorry for your loss, Tico. May your memories of your dad comfort you at this time.

Karen,

We have lots of Mocks and they don’t bother any of our other birds. I never heard of your problem. The feeders are full of a variety of birds. I am anxious for the goldfinches go start arriving and have just set out my thistle seed. My joy today was to find twelve ground doves (Mexican or Inca variety) in the back. We have not seen more than 2 at a time for many years here. Figured the fire ants were to blame.
Laurie

Heather: Unfortunately the berry bushes are BIG hollies that are the divider between us and the back-yard neighbors. We really don’t like the bushes but it would be fairly expensive to remove. Thanks for the thoughts, though! Wilbur and Wilburina still think they own the feeder; they realize there is none of their type of food left but they are still hogging the posts and scaring other birds away. 🙁
-Karen

Duh! I meant Mockingbirds. It might be kind of hard to hear a hummingbird 😉

I’ve had my mock for over 7 years now. His name is Julio and I call his mate mama. I feed them meal worms when they are nesting and when the babies first hatch and this winter (we live in FL), where the temps got to be 32 degrees off and on. They have their feeding dish too. The rest of the year they get a thimble full of minced hot dog. 89 cents a package. I keep the package in the freezer and take one out at a time. It last a week or more. They know my voice whistle and come flying when they hear it. They feed on their own mostly. This is just a nice treat they appreciate. I will look into the dried meal worms. I now buy mine from one of those pet supermarkets. They come in a container of 500 for $7.99. I love the birds too. They are great.

Hi Nancy,
Julio is so tame with me only (and our Cocker Spaniel). He will sit at his feeder and wait while I put his treats in his dish. He trust me completely. Mama, his mate is more cautious, but she will sit a foot from me. When he first brought his mate a few years ago to meet me and the food dish, he fist brought her over to the bird bath, and then he showed her I could be trusted by flying back and forth past my shoulder a few times. He hs known me from the day he was born. I had his father prior (who now lives down the street). His father is nine years old. But mocks are territorial when it comes to food, and when the father (Huey) left for a few months, Julio took over and when Huey came back Julio would not let him in the yard. I have to walk down the street, whistle and Huey comes flying over for his treats. I noticed my Mocks do not mate until they are into the start of their 2nd year. Then only one of the siblings will stay behind and the others go off to find mates and stay with them. The one that stays behind brings his mate home.
Regarding keepng 500 meal worms alive, I go through the 500 in 2 weeks or so and they seem to live. I was keeping them in the house refrig., but with the cold weather I keep the container on the porch and they do fine. The ones I buy aren’t slimey. They are dry and in a mixture of some kind of stuff that looks like saw dust. They don’t start moving unless they get warmed up from the sun or warm temp.
The Mocks will first live in a couple of different trees or high bushes either in your yard or the yard across the street or next door at a height where they can see you. Right now mine are livng in the neighbors back yard tree facing our yard, so they can see me when I walk out to the back porch. When It comes time to nest, they will again, either build the first nest in the same places they live. But they never reuse a nest or build twice in the same tree. they like to be about 5 feet off the ground for nesting. Mine have about 4 or 5 nest throughtout the season. I cut up cotton twine and throw it on ground or drape it on bushes (about 4 inches in length) and they love to line the nest with it. Maskes it so soft for their tush! Julio lets me look inside to see the nest and eggs and the babies when they hatch. It’s not until the last nest do the parents let them stay around for a lot longer period. Especially when the babies see the parents go to the feeding dish. But they move on eventually too. I understand that Mocks mate for life, but if something happens to the mate, they find a new one. After nine years of observing them close up, I could write a book!

I, too< have a problem with a pair of Mockingbirds chasing away other birds from my bird feeders. Previously, I had a large variety of birds throughout the winter. Now, whenever other birds come this pair of birds are very menacing. The other birds leave. What can I do? I would like to enjoy all of the birds again. Martha

I have a special white ceramic bowl on the fence for only the mockingbirds. I only have two MK birds that come by. The bowl has meal worms in it. You can buy them freeze-dried at the pet store and just put them in water to soften them up. Then I have feeder trays on the fence as well and I get dozens of house finches, sparrows, thrasers and doves. None of these birds eat meal worms and show any interest in the MK birds white bowl. My MK birds fly down & eat their worms and go. The other birds aren’t scare of the MK birds. I am really surprised to hear that MK birds hurt smaller birds. I have never seen that here. I do notice that the MK birds do not share the social circle with the other birds. MK birds come, eat quickly and leave. The other birds hang all day long, poop, and make a mess and chirp, chirp, chirp! The MK birds are actually low maintenance. But, I luv all the birds.

I have never seen where any contributor suggested peanut butter for mockingbirds. We developed a rat problem when nearby apartments were torn down. I baited a rat trap on my patio with peanut butter. The next day I saw a mockingbird pecking on the trap. I raced out and chased him away, so I could spring the trap. He came back and ate. I put peanut butter on a coffee can lid and left it on a chair arm. He became a regular. I finally built a stand for his peanut butter and went through a lot of effort to train the sparrows and squirrels to leave it alone. A few months later he showed up with a mate and they became Papa and Mama Bird. A few months later Mama Bird turned up with an injured foot. She apparently was not able to elude the neighborhood cats, as she disappeared a few months later. After singing on the top of light poles for a month he then brought Fluffy to share his territory. A year of two later they brought one of their babies. Baby would sit on the fence next to the peanut butter stand and let them bring him food until they finally forced him to feed himself. Unfortunately, both Papa and Fluffy disappeared at the same time (probably the neighborhood cats again) and only Baby came to eat. About 2 weeks ago, Baby brought his new mate Sweetie. It has now been over 3 years and we are in the second generation. They nest in different bushes in our yard and adjacent yards. I have tried various fruits etc, but the only thing they want (from me) is peanut butter.

I read from previous posts here that others feed their mockingbirds freeze dried meal worms. I got some, saturated them with water and put them right next to my bird’s peanut butter. Both my birds completely ignored the mealworms and dove into the peanut butter.
Don

Hello everyone,

My mother-in-law recently rescued a baby mockingbird found on the ground. She already had it for two days when I found out so it was too late to suggest returning it to bushes near where it was found. It was fuzzy and only had about half of its adult plummage. She has fed it and cared for it for 2 weeks now, and was hoping to release it soon since it can fly fairly well when she brings it outside. However, she asked me to find out if there is a way to release it successfully, rather than just letting it fly to a tree. She worries that it is dependent on her and may starve. Any help or insight would be really helpful. I have only found one site that suggested that once domesticated, they cannot be released. That made her sad, but then begs the question- can the winges be clipped like other birds to allow it to enjoy the outdoors without flying away to its doom?

Thanks in advance for your help

Thanks Nancy. Actually, I just dropped him at the wildlife rescue today. They were happy that I brought him but were sad that she ever had him. They said exactly the same thing, that it would find food but that it would be too trusting due to our affections. Bottom line, If anyone ever finds a wild bird and feels it is in danger, limit human contact and DO NOT FEED. Bring it to a wildlife rescue as soon as possible. That’s what they told me anyhow.

Happy Bird Watching 🙂

We had a mockingbird nest with 3 chicks being well cared for by their 2 parents. One started to flap it’s wings and move out of the nest, a couple hours later after I returned from a walk, the nest was empty and all the chicks are gone. There was no sign of foul play, is it possible they looked so young but could fly? One looked ready but the other 2 never made any attempts to leave the nest? I am so concerned…I loved them so much

I have a couple of mockingbirds in the tree next to my backyard. I can’t see their nest but I’m sure it is in there somewhere. The male – or what I assume is the male, is very aggressive and my poor cat can’t even go in the backyard any more without being attacked. I have seen these same kind of birds do “fly-bys” to threaten cats but this one actually swoops and hits her with extended feet. Mr. Bird also is not afraid of me – he has come within a foot of me in his efforts to dive bomb the cat. It’s an interesting view of nature at work, but I feel sorry for my cat who can no longer enjoy either the front or back yard as he finds out she’s there immediately and begins harassing her.

I have had two Mockingbirds in my yard since last year. They have me well trained. They will sit on my kitchen window sill until I deliver raisins or pomegranate seeds. They have been absent since last Saturday and I miss them. Any ideas on why they would suddenly leave?

Hi, I have just realized that I have mockingbirds living in my yard after nearly 6 years. I’m only 13, but I’ve becpme almost an expert on these little guys. My mom even calls me ‘the mockingbird princess.’ And so I call them ‘my little mockingbirds.’
But The other day I looked out and saw a crow/raven in the yard. It soon flew up to the tree and took out what looked to be a blueish-green egg, and I soon screamed in horror, knowing that it was a mockingbird.
Now yesterday I looked out and saw the same bird (I know it was the same one, It had the limpish ‘funny walk’ that the other one had,) and It soon flew up into the tree, knowing that It was probably going to get breakfast. But lo and behold, there were at least four or five mockingbirds chasing the crow/raven away! I’m so pleased, because I have seen no more of ANY ravens or crows in my yard anymore. I know that mockingbirds are very territorial, but there seems to be more than one ‘family’ of mockingbirds living in my yard. Is this normal? In one tree there seems to be about six or seven, and in the other, there seems to be about five or six. So is this normal for more than one ‘group’ of mockingbirds to be living in the same area? Or is this just some kind of birdy West-Side-Story?

“Our” mockingbird does a dead on Bob White and an almost perfect red-tailed hawk.
Once he did a purple martin song and found out the hard way that martins are, if not aggressive, at least eagerly courious about the “new guy” in their territory.

they love cheese…for 5 or so years now, i have had pairs of these dasterdly birds fly into my office(when weather is nice and front door open). they started out enjoying left over grapes, but soon became “cheese lovers”…yes cheese, as in shreded chedder(favorite for the babies, looks like worms?)sliced American(torn into bite sized pieces) and even Monterey Jack…they will quite ofen great me in the morning by landing on my car mirror as i’m getting out. following me indoors for there “breakfast”…I could go on and on…

I have several mockingbirds that sing ALL NIGHT and I’m pretty sure they have a nest in my Weeping Cherry tree. They perform for us during the day singing and dancing and the regular air show by dive bombing through the sky. We get so tickeled at some of the calls, anything from a cat to a car horn and too many to mention in between. Not so cute at night though, yet we love to hear them. Eileen Parsons WV

we love our mocking birds, they are so crazy,I looked out my front window the other day and there was one dive bombing a cat that was in the road ,they are so brave,coolest bird.love to go out in the morning to water and they are the first bird I hear,and the last one in the evening.

Dulie, mockingbirds are strictly fruit and probably insect eaters. They eat raisins, cut up cherries, melon, berries (blue and black and raspberries) and black currants. HTH. They are not very social, in terms of using the bird bath as a bathing device. They would probably drink from it maybe.

Never mind I just saw the mom go into the nest 🙂

forgot to say i found it while i was working in the ground ..cry ! i let it there for a while ,but not thing came so i took it .

I’m devastated. I’m a photographer in North Carolina. I have a mockingbird nest right outside one of my windows. I waited patiently for the 4 eggs to hatch and it’s been a joy photographing the babies and parents. A little over 2 weeks after the babies hatched, the nest seemed too small for them as they wriggled around. I was afraid they’d fall out so I kept an eye on them. They were all in the nest after dark last night, but this morning when I looked they were all gone! I dashed outside (with both parents dive-bombing me as usual) and found one baby squirming on the ground. I quickly put it back in the nest and searched for the other three. Sadly, I only found “part” of one baby with ants on it and no sign of the others. I couldn’t help but cry for a while. Perhaps a cat got the other babies? What a horrible thing to happen. I was wondering if there is any chance that the parents will shun the surviving baby since I touched it. They are still being very territorial but I haven’t seen either of them go to the baby since I placed it back in the nest.

I’ve enjoyed reading your comments. I feel your frustration but I must say that I enjoy the lovely sounds of the mockingbird. What a vocalist. We have several in my suburban neighborhood and my husband and I enjoy having coffee in the backyard and listening to their songs. For those who are trying to “shut the birds up”, try what my husband did. If they are on a tree outside your yard, shake the trunk of the tree very hard – it takes some muscle. Do this every time he starts to sing. It will take several repeats but it will eventually get them to fly somewhere further away to sing and it won’t hurt the bird- just make him uneasy. Hope this helps.

I have the same issue with birds attacking my dog .The one dog we have will not go off the porch to go tot he bathroom .We have 2 dogs ,it only goes after the one . I didn’t know that the birds were protected . we are at the end of our rope and were going to “take care” of the birds this weekend .The only other option is to move the nests , I guess .

I have a mocking bird who thinks it is a Bob White. I went looking for the Bob White because it’s been incessant over the past week at all hours of the day and night, and I noticed a mockingbird in the tree above me. I whistled like a Bob White and he responded. I was fascinated. He doesn’t bother me, I’m used to living in rural areas, but that’s the only song he seems to know. He’s singing it right now as I’m typing this…

good lord thats a lot of comments!!!

I’m so sad! There has been a mocking bird living in my front yard for several years, he has a favorite spot on top of the utility pole. He has sung his beautiful songs to me for several years and I have had the pleasure of having hear his song at night. HOw lucky I am. Yesterday I found several feathers scattered on the ground near where he plays, I believe they are his. I’ve been looking for him but he’s nowhere to be found. We have owls, hawks and cats in the area, I’m sure one of them killed him. I will miss him so. I pray for another mocking bird to find me.

For all the people saying they would like to “harm” or get rid of their mockingbirds…..I will hunt you down and believe me, you won’t like what you’ll get if you dare to harm any of those marvelous birds.

I think the mockingbird kept us up so many nights that it ruined my marriage… I’m glad we didn’t think of earplugs… the mockingbird knows best, cheers to bigger and better things! 🙂

I live in Miami and I have not seen one singing bird, not in Coconut Grove, not in Miami Beach, not in Key West …. My thinking was that Miami with all the greens and trees , climate and fauna should have a vast assortment of birds…..is there anybody can give me some info why I can’t see any singing birds, tropical birds……other than parrots, seagulls and pelicans, ectera………?

I just discovered we have a very noisy mockingbird residing in our giant oak…right by the bedroom window. I think his favorite call at night is imitating a dying rabbit. He even does a pretty good impression of my schnauzers “screaming”. Sometimes, I get so frustrated because he is keeping me up, and then he pulls some crazy noise out of his throat and I just laugh.

Bette,
As a follow up to your last post, I, like you, assumed the mockingbird sang to attract a mate. However, “my” male has recently been spending a lot of time chortling, and he still has his mate. First, I don’t claim to be an expert, but from my experience, when they pair up, they stay together until something happens to one or the other. Both of them still come to eat on my patio, and “she” is building another nest.
Don

I love the Mockingbirds that we have on our property. I love to hear them sing and would much rather hear them instead of the TV squawking any day… Of course, I turned off TV four years ago and my life took on more meaning. 🙂

Missy, perhaps they are trying to teach you something at a spiritual level? From the book, Animal Speak by Ted Andrews, the mockingbird represents “Finding your sacred song (soul purpose) and recognition of your innate abilities.

Mockingbirds live close to humans because they are not afraid. (Do you really want to shoot such a trusting creature?) They also like company, reflecting the idea that songs should be shared.

The Mockingbird can teach you about the power of song and voice. Anytime a Mockingbird shows up as a totem it is time to learn to sing out your talents. Regardless of how others may see you, expect people to notice your actions- not your appearance.

Most people, even if they know their inner sacred song (life purpose), are afraid to act upon it. The Mockingbird can assist you with this.

The ability to subtly stimulate responses in others is part of what the mockingbird can teach you. It can help you flush out injurious insects around in your own life and see where and who they are.

Look for opportunities to follow your own path and sing forth your own song!”

I hope this helps on some level. Take what resonates and leave the rest. What we embrace tends to help enlighten and help us grow.

Namaste

I love to hear mockingbirds sing, day or night. I often leave the window open at night so I can hear them. It seems like the birds are diminishing each year in the city, so I treasure the few we have left. The mockingbirds have delightful sounds and they are quite fierce defending their nests against hawks.

It’s 1:00 in the morning here in Florida and I’m researching Mockingbirds! Yep, just what I thought, that’s a mockingbird took up residence out there. Same thing every year from spring til winter this same bird comes back to the same tree and keeps me up!!!

I saved a baby mocker in June of 2011 at 4 days old that was the last survivor of its 3 other nestlings after a cat attacked the nest & killed the rest. Although I did put him back in the nest for a couple of days (while helping feed it), the parents came back only once and then abandoned him. I raised him and still have him. He’s been a total joy and plays with me, follows me around the house, and “chirps” back at me when I talk to him. He won’t let me touch him but he does fly to me and sits on my shoulder or on my head. Many times he sits on my forearm as I’m working at my PC & moving the mouse around. He cannot be released since he wouldn’t make it outside now. He eats mealworms, fruit, live crickets, grasses, small flowers, and other bugs I catch. He’s not in a cage, but flies freely around my office. He takes daily baths in a bowl of water. Keeping the poo cleaned up is a task, but I keep up with it & sterilize surfaces daily. His name is Atticus.

We have a nest of 3 babies right outside a bathroom window, in a tree that is only about 5 ft. high and no more than a foot from the house. The babies whine off and on and the momma & papa (male is bigger?) birds come down and roost on our yuccas, roof, etc. I’ve been buying jumbo mealworms (@ $7 per container of 100) to feed them, as a fun thing for my niece to do. Boy did I really start something! Now every time I go out in my driveway, both parents come and “beg” and will even come perch next to me and squawk if I’m taking too long dole-ing out the worms. They’ve even let me video tape the babies, as long as I don’t get too close or film too long. So I hear I have 12 days before the little ones leave the nest? I guess I’ll be buying worms till then as it seems like they are now spoiled (who’s fault is that?)for the fat mealworms vs. the scrawny earthworms, besides they’re “served” up on a platter! The momma bird gobbles up a few then takes one to the nest, so I’m guessing the babies don’t need them regurgitated now? They’ve been going thru about 100 jumbo worms every 2-3 days. I’m wondering if that is the right amount. I don’t see any other diners but that doesn’t mean there aren’t any. The mockingbirds swoop down right away and pretty much consume them all. I try to put some out every hour if I can (6-10 worms). Thanks for all the cool MB info!

Another thing you can do to supplement the babys’ diets is fresh fruit such as raisins, currants, cut up cantaloupe, honey dew melons. They also eat the berries of hollies too. If when they fledge you see them out in the open, the parents are nearby keeping an eye on them. But if they get too close to something dangerous- like a street, pick them up and place them under a shrub. Mockingbirds are extremely people tolerant as you have found out. I think if they recognize you as the food giver, they are more tolerant of you. That has been my experience with them here.

Hey Mike,

Sounds like the babies are big enough to be out of the nest. They won’t fly for some time…but what’s funny is that when they start to, they still follow their parents around crying for food and continue to do so until they’re almost as big as their parents! Adolescents will have “spotted” feathers on their chest for a while. Then they molt and grow adult ones. While I’m not sure that racoons eat birds, I’d keep a close eye out! They could still kill the babies, especially at night. I hope you can keep them safe!

We have a pair of mockingbirds who have made the most beautiful nest just outside my kitchen window on the baker’s rack of my new-painted back porch. Some people advised me to tear it out but I couldn’t do it. I got a drop cloth a put it down and moved the furniture out of the way, hopefully… but she flies away when we come to the window. I wonder if she’ll hatch the eggs. There is already one egg in the nest. I put up a cardboard so she won’t be so flighty–I hope it will help ’cause I want them to raise their family. Not sure what’s going to happen when we turn the lights on tonight… does she have to stay on the nest all the time for the eggs to hatch?

I found a baby mockingbird about a month and a half ago while walking my dog at night. It was lying in the middle of the road and was tiny. There was no tree overhead and I was afraid to leave him in the grass beside the road for fear something would get him. I brought him home and kept him warm overnight. The next morning, I heard him peeping. I wasn’t sure what to do so I made a nest in a portable cooler and took him to work with me. I ran over to Animal House and asked them what to feed him. I got some dried dog food and meal worms and began feeding him. I love animals and get very attached to them. Well, needless to say, I got so attached to ‘Peepers’. I so looked forward to coming home throughout the day and feeding him. He would nestle inside my barhrobe while I was getting ready for work or sitting watching TV. He would sit on my shoulder or my head and he would just look at me and gently peck my face….he thought I was ‘mama’. I had him for over 5 weeks and groomed him for release into my backyard. I have the perfect backyard….with lots of trees…on a cul-de-sac on the water, so not a lot of stray cats. I would take Peepers out a little at a time and hang his cage from the tree…eventually opening the door so he could get out. At night I would bring him in. He was doing beautifully! He would fly around and then come back. Ironically, I rescued a stray cat about a year ago, and this was my concern. I wasn;t sure if instinctively Peepers would be afraid of this cat. 2 weeks ago, Peepers was outside up in the tree and Thomas the cat was also out there. I was sitting there watching and the plan was to have the hose next to me and if I saw any aggression from the cat, I would spray him with the hose…so he would get the point. There are lots of other birds in the yard and the cat doesn’t go after them. I turned around to get the hose and in a split second, 2 adult mockingbirds chased Peepers down to the ground and Thomas (the cat) pounced on him. I screamed and the car dropped him. He didn’t appear to be injured too badly nor in any pain. I was hysterical!!
I grabbed up Peepers and brought him in the house. My husband and I took him to 2 different emergency clinics. The first one was going to operate on him, but then they came back and said they couldn’t. The 2nd one said the same thing. It came down to the fact that he was considered a protected wild bird and the state bird (I live in Florida)…and in retrospect, I think this had something to do with it. They felt like it was not something they wanted to take responsbility for. I would have paid any amount of money to have him fixed.
I ended up taking him to the seabird sanctuary and they had to put him to sleep. I don’t like the way they handled the situation at all!
I am still in mourning over this whole experience and angry at myself for not protecting my precious little peepers.
I am yearning for another baby mockingbird. I so loved that little bird!
I am going to have a huge aviary built in my backyard where I can safely keep any baby birds that I find and keep them safe and protected until they are old enough to freely fly free but also have a safe haven to come back to (MINUS THIS CAT!)
I have been so devastated by this that I haven’t told anyone and am crying as I type this. I wish I had been better prepared for this and done things differently.
I love mockingbirds and would never want to keep one in a cage, but I do want to create a avaiary area in my backyard so I can have them come and go and live in my backyard. I need to figure out how to keep this car out of the backyard!

Something great is going to come out of this Susie.

Kelly – Thank you so much for responding to my e-mail. My heart is so heavy with the loss of my presious Peepers and I can’t think or talk about him without crying. He did the same thing…he sat on my head, my shoulder ….he liked to cuddle…he was so adorable!

I wish I would have handled this situation differently and could turn back the hands of time!! I coddled him….everyone thought I was crazy! I very carefully and gradually planned his release and know that he would have lived in the backyard indefinitely if it weren’t for Thomas AND those mean mockers!

I was very angry with the cat for a long time, but he is a feral cat that was used to fending for himself and was just doing what was natural to him. I have tamed the cat as well and he is pretty much a part of the family now. That part of him though ….I hate! The funny thing is…the other day..I saw a large mockingbird sitting on a chair very close to Thomas and Thomas did nothing about making a move towards this mockingbird.

I would love to e-mail you directly Kelly and would love to see pictures of Atticus. My heart longs for another baby mockingbird. I gave my name out to my own vet in case they have anyone that brings one in. I am tempted to call around and give my name out to other vets too, but want to make sure I have my game plan together first. I will eventually get another one or two.

Where does Atticus live….in one of your rooms? Does he fly around the house? How long have you had him?

Peepers was such a pretty little bird. I wonder if Peepers was actually a girl as he didn’t sing at night like I have read with some of these other people. Maybe he was just too little for that.

My e-mail address is stopping@bbandt.com if you want to e-mail me directly. What is yours? Where do you live Kelly? I am in St.Pete FLORIDA.

It’s so nice to have this forum…I have learned a lot from this site.

HOPE TO HEAR FROM YOU SOON KELLY!

Susie

My heart is so broken by this whole incident…I am still very angry with myself. Peepers relied on me to protect him and I feel that I let him down.

I have seen my red bird population decrease while the mock population has increased in my back yard. Do these birds compete for territory?

Thanks for any responses.

Katy

We found a mockingbird nest in small tree in our front yard 1.5 weeks ago. The 4 babies hatched last week and I have been watching them grow and mom and dad feed them. This morning, my husband noticed that the tree branch was messed and the nest was in shambles and only 1 baby was remaining. Mom and dad are very irritated. This afternoon when we got home, the nest was empty, one of the parents swooped in on me when I was looking. I found one dead baby on the ground several feet from the nest. I think a cat attacked last night, since I found cat fur under the nest. Not sure what happened this afternoon.

They could very well be old enough to leave the nest, so I don’t know if one of them is still alive and in the bushes. But the parents are still acting very territorial. Squawking a bunch and calling to each other if I go out front. If all the babies didn’t make it, how long will the parents continue to defend the nest and territory? Or do you think there is a baby somewhere on the ground that they are protecting? I was enjoying watching these babies grow before this tragedy happened, but I also have 2 small children and would like to have our front yard back. Also, would it be ok to move the dead baby out of the front and bury it? Or would that just leave me open for an attack by the parents?

I ended up burying the baby that I found this afternoon. Which, I am assuming was probably the one that was left in the nest this morning. I thought I heard a baby earlier, but I looked and looked around the yard and couldn’t find it. The baby-like chirps have stopped now. 🙁 But it could have been another type of bird that was hearing anyway. The parents have moved across the street now and seem busy with something. Maybe they moved the baby? Or they are building another nest. I buried the baby during naptime today and the boys and I put flowers on the grave and said a prayer. My very realist 5 year old named him/her “almost made it.” Not the happiest name ever, but fitting, I guess.

Kelly, seems as though mom and dad found a spot across the street and are busy building a nest in our neighbor’s tree. Looks like a much better spot for hiding babies and we still get to watch and listen to our mockingbirds do do their thing!

The mockers I had in a holly bush about 5 feet from my front door a few years ago, never swooped at me or people coming up to the door like the mailman doing a delivery. I think that they saw I was the one putting out cut up fruit for them to eat while the babies were in the nest and the local sanctuary said to me that ‘mockingbirds are very people tolerant’.

Hi Kelly –

I have been meaning to get back to you. I will e-mail you soon. You saw my pictures of the baby bird that I reunited with his parents. Another one was found on the ground too so we put both of them back in the nest. Mama was feeding them.
Well….this house is about 2 miles from my own home so I was not able to keep an eye on them and the woman that lived there was keeping me updated. I would drive by several times a day and she informed me that they were being fed and taken car of by mama and papa. This past weekend…we had a terrible storm. I thought it was supposed to rain for a couple of days, but it turned into a tropical storm (I live in St.Pete Florida). It started Saturday nite and by Sunday morning it became blustery and started pouring. I wasn’t sure if mama would sit on the babies to keep them dry. At this point, I believe they were still less than a week old. I panicked and drove over in the rain with my ladder and climbed up in the tree to take a peek and these poor babies were soaked. The woman that found them and her husband helped me. I took them out of the nest, and sadly…one baby was dead. The other one was pretty weak. I wrapped him up and held him for a couple of hours and he came around and started eating like crazy. I had him for a day and a half. My plan was to take him back to the nest once the rain stopped. The 2nd night, I fed him…he seemed fine. But the next morning, he was dead. I was devastated (again)….and was wondering if I had done something to cause his death. My husband of course, thinks I am crazy! I fed him worms on Sunday and baby bird formula (instead of the dry dog food). Monday…we were stuck and could not get out of the house due to the flooding, so I ran out of worms (he went through 50 of them)…and I continued feeding him the powdered baby bird fomula. He was thriving….so I am not sure what happened to him. Maybe he was just too small to make it.
I am really surprised that the mama did not take care of them through that rain. In her defense, it was really windy and raining hard. I just wish I would have gotten to them sooner and wish the woman had been keeping a closer eye on them.
I have just fallen in love with these little birds and I feel so responsible for their well being, so when something happens to them, I take it really hard.
Do you know if the mother will still sit on them or with them when they are little like that?
THis whole experience has been a learning one for me and am learning a lot about these birds. I know this sounds silly, but I am suffering from the empty nest syndrome missing these babies!

Well, this has been fun to read. I live in Southern Utah where my daughter just got the role of Scout from “To Kill a Mockingbird” in the Shakespeare Festival here. Ironically I heard a string of bird calls for several days and a few nights (it is quiet tonight, tho) over the past week. I am certain I’d never heard the like before. Now having my daughter in the play and thinking about it in the back of my mind, it finally occured to me to look up what a mockingbird sounded like. Wouldnt you know! I am quite certain we had a mockingbird in our yard serenading us day and a bit at night. I found all this wonderfully ironical. 🙂

Neil, while I understand the point you’re trying to get across, there is still no reason for the people at rehab facilities to treat those who rescue a wild bird or animal the way they do. While it is true that sometimes these “rescuers” don’t know what they’re doing or may have taken a baby bird or animal in to these facilities thinking it was abandoned, the bottom line is that they were trying to HELP. This alone deserves respect and admiration as MANY people DON’T care. Would the death of an animal or bird be better in your eyes? Or are you more concerned about laws? Laws that MOST people are unaware of in the first place? And these laws are supposed to PROTECT the bird/animals in question…yet when lay-people TRY to protect them, they are belittled for it? That makes NO sense. You speak of knowing why baby birds died in someone’s care, yet you don’t explain your theories. Some of these people were doing all of the right things. When a baby bird has OBVIOUSLY been abandoned by its parents and will DIE unless a human steps in, what is YOUR course of action? And I’m not talking about guessing here…I’m talking about someone who has been watching a nest and SEES that the parent-birds have not returned to feed the baby or babies within 2-3 hours. Your advice of just leaving the babies alone and “hoping for the best” doesn’t apply here. So, when the human observers see this and bring the babies to a rehab facility for their survival, they are treated like criminals?? Federal law only goes so far when it comes to this as you must know. The Feds have better things to do than to bust down the door of someone they suspect of harboring a protected wild bird. It is illegal to disturb the nest of a protected bird…yet I know people who seek out & destroy mockingbird nests in their yards & smash the eggs because they don’t want these birds hanging around on their property. These people have no idea they are breaking any law. Are the Feds going to come & arrest them? Who would know? NOBODY! So when someone tries to SAVE a baby bird, why is this treated as a crime by people at rehab facilities? Your statement that “breaking federal law is not OK even in the name of good” holds no water when it comes to saving a life, no matter how small that life is. You also mentioned people not becoming licensed rehabbers. This can be an expensive and time-consuming task for those who have regular day jobs…and if all someone is trying to do is save a little life, they aren’t going to become licensed rehabbers. Currently I am in the process of moving a mockingbird nest out of my backyard with ONE baby in it that’s a week old. I am moving it because when the baby leaves the nest, one of my 3 dogs will kill it. I cannot let this happen so I’m moving the nest to another tree outside of my backyard. I have talked to a rehab place and was told to move the nest and that the parents of the baby will most likely follow and find its new tree since they can hear their baby’s cries from over a block away. If by some chance the parents abandon the baby, then I will take him to a rehab facility. All I know is I’m doing what is best for that baby mockingbird, laws be damned.

Ana, the baby won’t be able to fly for a little while longer. These birds “molt” and grow new feathers constantly as they grow. If you cannot take care of him then take him to a rehab facility near you if at all possible! Look up what places take these birds in your area. This is the only thing you can do if its parents have abandoned him.

Kathleen,

Mocker couples are usually monogamous and stay in the same general nesting territory. When their babies grow up they fly off to find their own territories and mates. They will be feeding the fledglings for quite some time after they can fly, though.

Caution: Your cat may very well get the babies when they leave the nest! They are usually on the ground by 12-14 days after hatching and cannot fly! They hide in shrubs, etc., while parents feed them. Many babies are killed by predators once they’re on the ground and vulnerable! Hope nothing happens….

Never new what a mockingbird looked like until now nice looking bird there!…..*wispers*i want one*wimpers* probably a sh*t load of money

I LOVE MOCKINGBIRDS BUT THIS WEBSITE SUCKS. THEY ARE AWESOME

Dawn,

Not sure what you’re looking for. Maybe you can give me an idea.

A mocking bird a a animal that could sing up to 35 diffrent animal species songs in 10 minutes.
Hopw this was helpful

THIS MALE NORTHERN MOCKINGBIRD IS ABOUT ONE YEAR OLD. I’VE WATCHED HIM GROW FROM A FLEDGLING TO NOW ABOUT ONE YEAR LATER. HIS FATHER WAS ALSO AROUND BEFORE THIS ONE CAME ALONG. HE WOULD DRINK WATER I HAD IN A CUP IN A TREE NEXT TO MY PATIO. I WATCHED AS THE FATHER FED THE FLEDGLING AND THE MOTHER TOOK OFF TO FIND ANOTHER PLACE. AS THE BABY GOT OLDER AND GREW SO FAST THE FATHER SHOWED HIM ABOUT FLYING, AND WHEN HE WAS ABLE TO FLY THE FATHER SHOWED HIM WHERE THE WATER IN THE TREE WAS. THIS WAS ALL GOING ON IN THE HEAT OF THE SUMMER IN PEORIA ARIZONA. THE FATHER HAS MOVED ON AND WHEN THE BABY GOT HIS VOICE HE SANG & SANG. IT’S BEEN A FEW MONTHS NOW AND HAS NOT HAD ANY LUCK FINDING ROMANCE. HE IS UP ON A LIGHT POLE OR HIGH TREE CLOSE BY AND SINGS FOR A SHORT PERIOD A FEW TIMES DURING THE DAY BUT OTHERWISE HE SITS THERE ALL BY HIMSELF AND HE IS HUNCHED OVER AND LOOKS VERY DEJECTED. I FEEL VERY SORRY FOR HIM AND IF THERE IS SOMEONE WHO MIGHT HAVE A IDEA WHEN THIS PERIOD FOR HIM WILL COME TO AN END??? I REALLY DON’T WANT HIM TO LEAVE.
CAN ANYONE HELP????

THANK YOU,
HARVEY

A most enjoyable and informative article and series of comments. I’d love to hear a Mockingbird. Great pictures too.

This didnt help me at all… sorry

Live in Palm Springs area. Last year we noticed a lack of singing mockingbirds in our area…then this spring, still no singing. Then, one morning , the singing began. A friend told me that the singing was a result of the male serenading the female while she sits the eggs.
I don’t see anything about the reproduction habits of this bird.

He will not leave that territory if he owns it. Finding a new place for us is a pain for them it is a potential death sentence. Nothing you can do to get him a mate. Sooner or later a female will select him and you will be back to listening to screaming youngins in no time.

Hey Mike just to give a little pre publication info. As an end point in my experiments the vets forced my to euthanize my adult birds I have raised from hatchlings. From this I was able to analyse the brain nuclei. I can tell you although they have a slightly larger HVC,NCM,and Cm tissue in their song system , the percentage of brain tissue dedicated to the song system over all is not larger in NOMOs than in other related song birds like the Thrasher, Starling, and Catbird.

Just read that in your description and anted to give a friendly science heads up.

not very informationlal………………lol jk ok!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

These birds are annoying. I haven’t slept past 6AM for 2 months because one is outside my window and it chirps 6+ hours a day. Frustrating and annoying.

If you found a baby mocker, they need to be fed several times per hour, just like their parents would feed them. If you cannot commit to this then you need to take the baby to a rehab facility. And don’t give them bread or milk. This clogs their digestive system.

Just wanted to post…. The baby mocking bird I rescued just turned 1 year old. And before anyone say’s I should have turned him loose.. He can’t fly one wing is malformed. most likely why the mother left it to die….anyway Opie is pimping a 150 dollar cage all the food he can eat and tons of love….Oh yea he can’t fly but he can run like the roadrunner..

I raised a mocker from 4 days old to 13 months. No way to really tell what sex they are outside of their behavior. I knew mine was a male by how he acted and how he sang. Females don’t sing as much. This was one of the most joyous years of my life and I’d do it again in a second even with the constant feedings until he could eat for himself with the mealworms I provided. I will always cherish this experience and the knowledge I gained just by observing this intelligent, wonderful creature.

Beautiful story, Anne. Wonderful. I’ve noticed mockingbirds are friendly and I certainly do enjoy their songs.

I’m so sad. We moved from TX to SC a year ago and had the most wonderful mockingbird at our home. She/he would wake us by our window, sing all day, sing back to me and brought such joy. Today, I found our beautiful friend on the back driveway. There was a puddle of blood around her head. No sign of anything. But she was gone. I cried like a child. Such a small thing to so many, I fear, but what happiness her beautiful songs were. We will say good bye to her with heavy hearts. I only hope the breezes through the pines will bring another to us and we will be blesseds with the voice of the Mockingbird!

Today while looking for a lost golf ball, a mockingbird landed very softly on top of my hat!

For sure you dont want to come back as a bird, particularly a wintering species… in the Northeast USA

Our parkland near NYC had in various areas (bushes, shrubs) mockingbirds,, How wonderful to come in deepest winter and find this lovely bird… Just one in each location probably a male defending his territory even in snow and ice.

Unfortunately, hawks began their resurgence HERE in a big way, I believe all our mockingbirds have become food for predator birds. Our wintering birds are gone, the woodland these past years is barren of wildlife.

Enjoying the few mockingbirds around my home in Moorpark, Calif. I hear a male singing all night sometimes..adorable to find out he’s calling for a mate. Such a pleasure listening to them…sad that folks would be irritated and possibly do something to remove them. Bizarre how “out of tune” to nature some folks are. Anyway, I love them and happy so many others do too!

same mockingbird with a flea problem or mites. he is constantly picking at himself and now i worry about his health because of this.
since he is a wild bird i cannot use flea sprays. there are a few but for caged birds.
please if you know of a way to rid my wonderful companion for the past 7 years of the fleas please, please let me know.

We live in south central Gabon (a country in Africa), and there’s a bird outside our house that is cycling its call like a mockingbird. Are there mockingbirds in central Africa? Or are there other kinds of birds that do this?

Are there mockingbirds in Central Africa? Or are there other species of birds that can do this?