Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, July 22, 1990 TAG: 9007190361
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Patricia C. Held
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The mockingbird is considered among our finest songsters. Thomas Jefferson thought it was more talented than the nightingale. Longfellow described its song in "Evangeline" this way: There comes "from his little throat such floods of delirious music that the whole air and the woods and the waves seem silent to listen."
This bird is truly the opera singer of the avian world. Its song gives it the beauty that its plumage lacks.
The mockingbird is an inconspicuous gray color and has a long slender shape with an elongated tail about one-half the length of the bird. Its wings are darker, with two wide white bars or flash patches. The long tail and the wing patches are the mockingbird's best field marks. These, combined with its unmistakable song, make this an easy bird to identify in the field.
Compared with most birds, the mockingbird is extremely vocal. It seems to sing almost endlessly throughout the day and evening as well as throughout most of the year.
The mockingbird is one of the few birds that will sing at night. Especially if the moon is full, the mockingbird's repetitive song is part of the night sounds. It takes only a couple of brief rests throughout the year. Following a midwinter break, the bird begins tuning up in January. The male sings through the breeding season, which continues till mid-summer. After a short break in August both the males and females resume their calling. They continue through the fall and winter, defending their winter feeding grounds.
A prominent aspect of the bird's behavior is its territoriality. The area that it claims as its own is small and well defined. If either bird or beast should stray within, the mockingbird quickly voices its disapproval in a conspicuous manner. A disturbed bird will perch on an exposed limb, bush or rooftop and send out its loud repetitive calls.
At times its defense tactics can be very bold. The mockingbird is fearless in its attack and will set upon birds, dogs, snakes and other larger animals. I have seen a mockingbird dive bomb an intruding cat as well as the cat's owner. Although the bird rarely comes into hard contact with intruders, it does not take long before the mockingbird becomes king or queen of its area.
The bird's best known trait is its ability to mimic - hence its name. It has been known to imitate more than 50 different bird species. In admiration of the mockingbird's talents the Indians called it "cencontiatolly" or 400 tongues. Its scientific name, Mimus polyglottus, also refers to its varied songs and means many-tongued mimic.
It is almost impossible to differentiate between the mockingbird and the bird it is imitating. It can easily capture just the right tone, rhythm, loudness and pitch. And the mockingbird does not stop at birds - it also imitates squeaking gate hinges, a dog barking, whistling and more.
In addition to its "foreign" vocabulary, the mockingbird has its own native tongue that it uses even more often. Its song is a distinctive outpouring of lyrical notes repeated rapidly several times in a row.
All birds sing, but few sing as many different songs with such enthusiasm. In spring the mockingbird's song is centered on the nest and in autumn on food. During the rest of the year, I think that the mockingbird sings just because it likes to.
Patricia Held will respond to readers' questions on the plant and animal wildlife in the region. Mail inquiries to: Patricia C. Held, P.O. Box 65, Goode, Va. 24556.
by CNB