The northern mockingbird is a medium sized song bird that measures about 123 cm.(about 9 in). It weighs about 50g (about 2 oz) and has longish legs , wings, tail and a slightly curved bill. It is a grayish-brown color with two parallel white bars on the wing which is easily seen in flight. This helps distinguish this bird from their cousins, the brown Thrusher and the Catbird.

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The mockingbirds are found in four different countries. The four different locations are in the United States, Cuba, The Bahamas, and Mexico. The mockingbirds are not likely to be found in short, grassy lawn areas.

 

It is estimated that there are about 45,000,000 mockingbirds all around the world . The northern mockingbirds population is not shrinking so scientists are not worried about them. The mocking birds does not migrate at all.

 

When they make a nest they don’t put it in really high branches, they put it in really low branches. They make an open cup nest .They normally lay 4-5 eggs at a time. Some of the things they eat are insects and fruit. Unmated male mockingbirds sing more than mated ones, and only unmated males sing at night. Both sexes sing in the fall to claim winter feeding territories. These areas are often different than their spring breeding territories.

 

Mockingbirds mimic 50 other bird's songs. They have also been known to imitate other sounds they hear such as rusty hinges, whistling, cackling hens, and dogs barking so expertly that even an electronic analysis could not tell the difference between the mockingbird and the original. Scientists have found that female mockingbirds are attracted to males that can make the most different sounds.

 

Author: Liz G

Published: 05/2005

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Sources:

www.Wild-Card.org