The Northern Mockingbird's scientific name is "Mimus polyglyottos". The Mockingbird is very famous. It even had a song written about it. "Listen To The Mockingbird" by Richard Milburn in 1855.
The Mockingbird is able to imitate the songs of other birds. This is how it got its name.
The Mockingbird is about 10" tall or just about the same height as an American Robin. It is medium Grey on the back and wings. The breast is very light Grey, almost White. Most outstanding characteristic is the White wing bars displayed when flying. It eats insects, small vertibrates, and fruit.
The Mockingbird is a native to the state of Florida, but its range stretches from the Florida Keys to the South to as far North as Canada.
The Mockingbird can be found in suburbs and open land. They are not afraid of people and may even make a nest in a tree in your yard. In fact, they will dive at an unsuspecting dog or cat or even you when you get to close to the nest.
The male will begin building the nest in a suitable location such as a lower branch of a tree or within the center of a dense bush or hedge. It makes its nest out of small twigs and other found materials. When he has completed his part of the nest building he invites the female to inspect the nest. If she accepts his nest, then she will finish the nest by lining it with down and other soft materials. Once they have completed the nest building she will lay 3 to 5 small (1" - 24mm), blue-green eggs with brownish markings and the process of attending to the new family begins.
We had a nest somewhere near the house two years ago and found one of the baby birds on the ground. We called the local bird rescue person and she said to just hang a basket from a lower tree limb and put the baby into it. The basket that she suggested was a medium sized "Easter Basket" that was strong enough to resist the weather. We did as suggested and the bird was fine. The bird rescue lady said that it was a myth that if you touched the bird the parents would not tend it any longer. She pointed out that, if humans touched the bird too much, it could die from fear and stress. Imagine a giant 100 times your size handling you. You'd be very scared too.
Oh, by the way, the Northern Mockingbird is also the state bird of Texas, Mississippi and Arkansas.
The State Legislature of Florida has been petitioned to name the Florida Scrub Jay as the State Bird of Florida. The Florida Scrub Jay is on the Audubon Society's Blue List. A species on this list has been observed to be facing a serious decline in population numbers. In the case of the Florida Scrub Jay this is because of a continued loss of habitat. The proposal to make the Florida Scrub Jay the State Bird of Florida is because of two reasons:
