Scientific Name: Mimus polyglottos
Habitat: The Northern Mockingbird lives in farmland, forest edges, suburban areas, city parks, and anywhere there is open county with some thickets.
Diet: Northern Mockingbirds are omnivores. They eat mainly insects during the summer, and they eat mainly fruits and berries during the winter. The invertebrates Northern Mockingbirds eat include beetles, grasshoppers, moths, butterflies, bees, wasps, spiders, snails, and earthworms.
Sound: The Northern Mockingbird’s song is a pip-pip-pip-pip trill that sometimes sounds scratchy and other times sounds flute-like. The call is a sharp chek! chek!
Nesting: Northern Mockingbirds place their nests in shrubs or low trees. The nests are usually 3 to 10 feet off the ground, but can be up to 60 feet up. The nest’s foundation is made of twigs, and the inner cup is made of leaves, grass, and weeds, and lined with hair, leaves, moss, and rootlets. Northern Mockingbirds lay 3 to 5 eggs, and incubate them for 12 to 13 days. When the chicks hatch they are helpless, blind, and have down.
Description/Field Marks: Northern Mockingbirds have wingspans of about 12 to 14 inches, and are about 8 to 10 inches long. They are grey all over, but the wings and tail are a darker shade of grey than the rest of their bodies. When Northern Mockingbirds fly, you can see white flash markings on the wings and the outer tail feathers.
How to attract: To attract Northern Mockingbirds, either put out a bird feeder with cracked corn, or plant berry producing trees in your yard.
Northern Mockingbird
Northern Mockingbird