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Harper Lee famously wrote that it’s a sin to kill a Mockingbird.  Because they don’t do nothing but sing for us all day long, she said.  With all due respect to Ms Lee’s prodigious literary talent, she’s never had to deal with the Northern Mockingbirds in my neighborhood.  Not that I would ever go so [...]

On a recent visit to Wave Hill, a public garden in the Bronx, I was amazed by how confiding the resident Northern Mockingbirds were.  In addition to watching them forage and sing I also chanced upon a rather violent encounter between two mockingbirds.  One came out the fight clearly victorious as the other turned tail [...]

Cats should not be allowed outdoors.  Period.  Especially when the domesticated feline is an extra from The Matrix. Yes, there will be those who will think that the mockingbird had it coming but what the mockingbird was doing was defending its territory, which likely included a nest with young, from what it judged (obviously correctly) was a [...]

On a recent visit to Fort Tilden I couldn’t help noticing Northern Mockingbirds everywhere.  They either sang or scolded from every clump of bushes and trees and the white patches in their wings and tails flashed from every direction as they chased each other and other birds.  Despite their ubiquity, sharp appearance, and many-tongued vocabulary [...]

Pity the poor mockingbird.  They are despised for singing all night, chided for being a bully at the feeders, and killed in the title of a famous novel.  Surely no bird deserves such persecution?  Sadly, the list of injustices that mockingbirds have to suffer through has a new addition: the mange.  Poor, poor, mangy mockingbird. [...]

In the past few years, my most excellent fortune has been to visit a variety of eco-lodges in the Neotropics. Most of these destinations have been absolutely fantastic yet still slightly… rough. Perhaps rustic would be a better descriptor for some, or homey or even, if I may be so bold as to introduce a [...]

The single most popular post I’ve ever written is about mockingbirds. Every day, hundreds of people stop by to learn about mockingbirds, share their stories, and ask questions. Consequently, this post has racked up 244 comments (as of August 21, 2009) and is still going strong. I highly recommend that anyone interested in Northen Mockingbirds [...]

Mockingbirds are members of the Mimidae family, a group of American passerines that also includes thrashers, tremblers, and New World catbirds. These stentorian songbirds, medium sized with angular proportions and long, twitchy tails, range from the Canadian border down through South America. Northern Mockingbird by Mike, found fittingly at Hotel Mocking Bird Hill in Jamaica [...]