Mockingbirds
When I first moved to the south (North Carolina) I missed some of the familiar birds. I soon became acquainted with Mockingbirds. They were everywhere. But I did not realize there were so many because their songs were an entire repertoire of every bird they had ever heard. I thought I had a birder's paradise, only to discover it was one saucy bird. My first year in N.C. I had Mockers build a nest so low in a bush that I could watch the eggs from deposit to hatch and then the young long-skinny- legged rather homely chicks develop. The birds were quite friendly from the first. Their parents favored a seat on top of the TV antenna on my roof where they practiced their calls daily and often into the night. I can only imagine how confused a lady Cardinal might be when trying to locate a mate and hearing the bright call, she responded, only to find she had been duped. There sat Mr. Mockingbird!
One of them also had an annoying habit of mimicing the sound of my telephone ringing. How many times I dashed into the house when the phone rang to discover the phone not ringing.
When I returned back outside, there sat the Mockingbird on my antenna "ringing" loudly. I wonder if he thought it was a joke?
One of the young birds stayed around late that Fall after the others had departed. There did not seem to be anything wrong with him. He would sit in the Dogwood tree which grew beside my porch and sing to me when I sat out there. I began talking to him, saying"Hello" over and over as you would to a parrot.
He began to listen and eventually he tried to mimic the sounds
I was making. He became very tame, following me when I made the long walk to the mailbox and back to the house. He very nearly learned to answer me in a word which sounded like my
hello. I have never heard of someone teaching a Mockingbird to talk, but I think it might be done. To what purpose, I have no idea. One day he just disappeared. I hope he did not meet with an accident; however, I doubt it. He likely just arrived late for the winter gathering.
Now I am in Virginia. The Mockingbirds are prevalent here too. There is a pair who have a nest in a tree close to my door. One parent sits in the tree scolding me every time I open the door. The other (probably the female) is busy flitting down to the ground, snatching up a bug, dashing back to the nest to stuff the still live bug into the gaping mouth of one of her hungry offspring. While I was watching a large handsome yellow butterfly sipping from my flowers, the scolding chap charged down from the tree and grabbed up my butterfly - right in front of me. Back up in the tree he went and proceeded to swallow the butterfly. With the grand assortment of insects there are to be had on the lawn area, he had to select that butterfly. And to add insult to injury, he ate it himself rather than feeding it to one of those hungry mouths his mate was trying to fill.
I am not sure I really like Mockingbirds any more. (The males that is.)
One of them also had an annoying habit of mimicing the sound of my telephone ringing. How many times I dashed into the house when the phone rang to discover the phone not ringing.
When I returned back outside, there sat the Mockingbird on my antenna "ringing" loudly. I wonder if he thought it was a joke?
One of the young birds stayed around late that Fall after the others had departed. There did not seem to be anything wrong with him. He would sit in the Dogwood tree which grew beside my porch and sing to me when I sat out there. I began talking to him, saying"Hello" over and over as you would to a parrot.
He began to listen and eventually he tried to mimic the sounds
I was making. He became very tame, following me when I made the long walk to the mailbox and back to the house. He very nearly learned to answer me in a word which sounded like my
hello. I have never heard of someone teaching a Mockingbird to talk, but I think it might be done. To what purpose, I have no idea. One day he just disappeared. I hope he did not meet with an accident; however, I doubt it. He likely just arrived late for the winter gathering.
Now I am in Virginia. The Mockingbirds are prevalent here too. There is a pair who have a nest in a tree close to my door. One parent sits in the tree scolding me every time I open the door. The other (probably the female) is busy flitting down to the ground, snatching up a bug, dashing back to the nest to stuff the still live bug into the gaping mouth of one of her hungry offspring. While I was watching a large handsome yellow butterfly sipping from my flowers, the scolding chap charged down from the tree and grabbed up my butterfly - right in front of me. Back up in the tree he went and proceeded to swallow the butterfly. With the grand assortment of insects there are to be had on the lawn area, he had to select that butterfly. And to add insult to injury, he ate it himself rather than feeding it to one of those hungry mouths his mate was trying to fill.
I am not sure I really like Mockingbirds any more. (The males that is.)
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