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What birds this mockingbird mimics? (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Mila
- Start date
I've wanted to do this sort of thing for ages, but never got around to it! I've noticed more than once that Mockingbirds in our area may have calls/songs by birds that aren't found around here, and I sometimes think it would make a good research paper to actually do a survey like that. Somebody's probably already done it, since it's a perfect sort of student project.
Our yard Mockingbird does an outstanding Bluebird and Great Crested Flycatcher, plus a passable Red-shouldered Hawk from time to time. I haven't heard him do a Catbird, surprisingly, but he does do a very nice Carolina Wren. So, let's see what little I can glean from yours!
The third one sounds like a Robin fussing. Then he loses me, until about 1:00 he sounds like the Robin again. About 1:35 he does a Catbird for a sec, and again in the 1:50s. Something Titmouse-y about 2:20, and Catbird and Robin both make appearances. He's got a couple of 'hawky' calls and one brief gull-like squeal, plus a couple of what sound like car alarms. The rest includes several things that are almost familiar, plus a lot that just waves at me as it goes over my head. I'll use as my excuse that I'm an east coaster.. Thanks!
Our yard Mockingbird does an outstanding Bluebird and Great Crested Flycatcher, plus a passable Red-shouldered Hawk from time to time. I haven't heard him do a Catbird, surprisingly, but he does do a very nice Carolina Wren. So, let's see what little I can glean from yours!
The third one sounds like a Robin fussing. Then he loses me, until about 1:00 he sounds like the Robin again. About 1:35 he does a Catbird for a sec, and again in the 1:50s. Something Titmouse-y about 2:20, and Catbird and Robin both make appearances. He's got a couple of 'hawky' calls and one brief gull-like squeal, plus a couple of what sound like car alarms. The rest includes several things that are almost familiar, plus a lot that just waves at me as it goes over my head. I'll use as my excuse that I'm an east coaster.. Thanks!
Tired
Well-known member
I think you've got a Northern Cardinal in there. Definitely a lot of familiar sounds, but him only doing them for a bit at a time makes it harder to place them. I'm not sure if those are car alarms, or a particularly loud rendition of an alarm-like bird, but I think he's got a "your car is now unlocked" beep in there.
Mockingbirds choose mates based on who has the most impressive mimicry repertoire, not based on plumage. I'm not sure what they find attractive, but I'd imagine this one's got a good shot- lots of variety!
There are Blue Jays in my neighborhood that can manage some shockingly good Red-shouldered Hawk calls. I've heard the local mockingbird trying to do an American Crow caw, but he can't get it nearly as deep and rasping as it needs to be, so he sounds cartoonish instead.
Mockingbirds choose mates based on who has the most impressive mimicry repertoire, not based on plumage. I'm not sure what they find attractive, but I'd imagine this one's got a good shot- lots of variety!
There are Blue Jays in my neighborhood that can manage some shockingly good Red-shouldered Hawk calls. I've heard the local mockingbird trying to do an American Crow caw, but he can't get it nearly as deep and rasping as it needs to be, so he sounds cartoonish instead.
Oh, Blue Jays are outstanding at doing Buteos, if not other kinds of hawks. Here in Maryland, I've heard them doing pitch-perfect imitations of the nesting Buteos - Red-shouldered, Red-tailed and Broad-winged - in the central part of the state. In each case, if I hadn't actually seen the bird calling, I wouldn't have believed it wasn't the hawk.
While it wouldn't be the first time I had heard a Mockingbird apparently repeating songs or calls from birds well outside his nesting area, it does seem unlikely. I had put the Titmouse-sounding vocalization down to some sort of west coast bird, but the Catbird "Raow" call (I thought) was pretty distinctive. I guess it must also be a west coast sound of some kind. Perhaps an actual cat?..
pbjosh
missing the neotropics
Mockingbirds can be hard to be super confident about. Not as easy / clear as, say, a Lawrence’s Thrush that does spot on imitations. Mockingbirds, at least in CA seem to also just invent things quite a bit. That said, things I heard fairly for sure:
Anna’s Hummingbird display
Scrub-Jay
CA Ground Squirrel alarm
Spotted Towhee as it sounds in SoCal
And some maybes:
Oak Titmouse
American Robin
Costa’s Hummingbird display
Plenty of presumably House Finch inspire chatter in there which at least to me seems typical but hard to pin down specifically. I’ve also noticed They seem to pick up a good bit from Hooded Orioles but also hard to pin down on a single listen.
When I’m in San Diego (where I know the bird song well) I feel like I can generally only ID a small fraction of their noises.
Anna’s Hummingbird display
Scrub-Jay
CA Ground Squirrel alarm
Spotted Towhee as it sounds in SoCal
And some maybes:
Oak Titmouse
American Robin
Costa’s Hummingbird display
Plenty of presumably House Finch inspire chatter in there which at least to me seems typical but hard to pin down specifically. I’ve also noticed They seem to pick up a good bit from Hooded Orioles but also hard to pin down on a single listen.
When I’m in San Diego (where I know the bird song well) I feel like I can generally only ID a small fraction of their noises.
