The Mockingbird brings spring to Sonoma County
March 22, 2007 on 4:25 pm | In Daily Local Birder |
Greetings!
This week, my husband and I have celebrated spring with the purchase of two lovely crabapple trees for our garden. The Mockingbird knows that the glorious season is upon us, too, and has burst into his song of praise.
I am always surprised by the scowls and groans that the Mockingbird, Mimus polyglottos, elicits from human beings. They complain, of course, of having been kept awake by this bird who will sing from sunrise to well beyond sunset, particularly in the springtime. To me, his song is a lullabye, a composition that surpasses the works of Vivaldi, of Tchaikovsky, of Louis Armstrong or Duke Ellington. We were thrilled this week, the official start of spring, to find that our neighborhood Mockingbird of the year seems to be a musician of supreme talents. Each of these birds is different, with a different repertoire. We heard our bird give perfect imitations of:
a Red-tailed hawk
a Kildeer
a Dark-eyed Junco
a Scrub Jay
an Acorn Woodpecker
We have a favorite memory from about 3 years ago when we sat up late on a warm summer’s night, trying to count the seemingly endless calls of the resident Mockingbird who lived near us that year. His frogs and crickets were amazing. Other people report hearing car alarms, tractors, construction sounds, sirens. The mockingbird is the great composer of the North American bird world, and he is a year-round resident in Sonoma County.
If you are lucky enough to have a neighborhood Mockingbird this year, you will enjoy observing his vivid springtime behavior. The male bird chooses a high perch, such as a telephone pole, and makes a great, eye-catching display of bursts into the air, spinning round like a propeller, flashing his white wing bars and the white streamers on his tail. He sings while he does this and it is fascinating to watch him.
Mockingbirds have adapted well to suburban life where there are some open grassy areas nearby for feeding and thick shrubbery for their nesting. They are extremely territorial and will actively chase off other birds, animals, and sometimes even humans who make them feel threatened. They build their nests of plant matter in a low hedge and lay 3-6 green eggs.
All around us, right now, the bird world is incredibly active. A simple walk up and down your block can treat you to the sight of many, many species, all of them bent on building their nests and starting their families. This is a joyous time.
I also wish to add to this a tidbit of gardening advice. For years, I have been in love with crabapple trees. They come in many hybrid varieties, but the ones I favor most are those with the bright red buds and very pale white flowers with just a tinge of pink. We hunted high and low for these at nurseries this week and could not find them, though we did see other pretty kinds. At last, I discovered that the simple Malus Floribunda was the tree I sought and we found a pair of them at Friedman Bros. nursery department in the town of Sonoma. Simply radiant trees! To me, the blossoms of this crabapple look as though each was lovingly sculpted of fine china, and we are very happy to have at last included these elegant trees in our garden.
And now, before the day waxes any later, I’m going to get outside for some spring sunshine and say hello to our new Mockingbird friend. I hope you can do the same!
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i’m a big environmentalist and i love the earth, and try to live responsibly for the most part… but i’m sorry… the mockingbird is the most annoying creature ever to inhabit the planet. i am now, since it is mating season, forced to listen to the obnoxious creatures day and night.. every day… every night… i work from home…. it is like living in a prison. earplugs get sore after a while… and there is only so much music one can listen to. my wish for the future— MORE yard cats.
p.s. Tchaikovsky is better… ANYDAY.
Comment by notafan — June 2, 2007 #
Hi Notafan,
Wow, you must REALLY not like mockingbirds. Well, to each his own. Some folks, after all, love heavy metal.
It may be that you have extra good hearing and cannot tone out the sound as others can.
As for me, I spent half an hour in my yard today watching a mockingbird sing his heart out. I counted some 30 different songs.
To me, that’s amazing…to you, it’s not so good!
Thanks for taking the time to comment. I hope you’ll stop by again.
Comment by info — June 2, 2007 #
Hi Miriam,
I have to say that I really enjoy the Mockingbird that has decided that part of our yard is his territory. He flies from the telephone wires down to our fence and back and around and all over. He is such a funny little bird to watch, and I especially enjoy seeing his white wing bars as he flies down from the wires. I was very amused one evening, to see him chasing crows around the fields if they got near his fruit tree, and even saw him chase a Turkey Vulture. They are truly amusing little birds, and I for one (or two) have enjoyed meeting the little fellow.
Candy
Comment by Bosco1 — June 20, 2007 #
Oh! I forgot to add how I love to see his little tail pumps as he sits on our fence.
Comment by Bosco1 — June 20, 2007 #
The only problem I have with our mockingbirds (a male and a femaile who are taking forever to mate) is that they’ve driven all the other beautiful birds out of our yard. For example, I used to enjoy watching the scrubjays in the backyard, but they won’t come near the place anymore. How can I attract more kinds of birds with the mockingbirds making such a huge display of their mating? I’ve just installed a new platform feeder and will be picking up a birdbath tomorrow. Hope these things will work. Also, how long is mating season for mockingbirds? These two have been singing for the past six weeks.
Comment by Tommy — June 25, 2007 #
Hi Tommy,
Nice to see you here. I would suggest you try getting American and Lesser Goldfinches to come with a thistle seed stocking feeder. I can’t imagine the Mockingbird would threaten, or feel threatened, by them. Scrub Jays, on the other hand, do steal eggs from other birds’ nests, and there may have been a battle between your Mockingbird and Scrub Jay families and the Mockingbirds won.
You might also try a ground level feeder for Thrushes, California Towhees, Spotted Towhees and California Quails. These lowly ground birds seem to go ignored by the more vigorous perching birds.
In regards to the breeding season, this is normally Mar-June where we live, but I have noticed that many of the nesting birds on my property have had 2 batches of babies this year. My theory is that all of the rain we had here last year made an abundance of food and is allowing this extra batch of babies (a good thing for the survival of all birds).
So, the Mockingbird in your neighborhood may be doing his displays a bit longer this year. Don’t give up hope. We’ve got a Mockingbird here and tons of other birds and they seem to get along. Providing good seed and little dishes of water for them is your best bet!
Good luck and I hope you’ll stop by again!
Comment by info — June 25, 2007 #
Hi Candy,
I agree…the display of the Mockingbird is just fascinating. We’ve spent hours listening to our resident male in the summer evenings, and the electric pole across from our house seems to be one of his favorite daytime perches. He looks just like a little helicopter twirling up in the air! What a proud fellow.
Thanks for adding your observations to this thread. They are good ones!
Comment by info — June 25, 2007 #