~A Morning Troubadour~

~The Northern Mockingbird~

In addition to being good mimics, Mockingbirds are also some of the loudest and most vocal of birds. Bachelor males trying to attract a female will often sing through the night or during a full moon. This can make for a not so good nights sleep or at least wake me early in the morning before I had intended to get up. Even though their choice of singing times can be bothersome I do love listening to endless variety of tunes. Some of these amateur opera singers can have a repertoire of hundreds of birdsongs, copied from other birds. Other animals, like barking dogs, and even car alarms are not immune to the Mockingbirds plagiarisms. Also being very territorial they will attack and chase other much larger predatory birds and animals that threaten there nests. Humans should even be wary of their defensive and territorial attributes. This good fellow was very docile when I approached him for a portrait. I got with in ten feet of his perch, he seemed to love the attention. Apparently he won the staring contest as he was still in his tree when I went inside after our ten minute photo shoot.

Thanks for looking in, TucsonJim ;o)


Big Bird