Mimus polyglottos

The Northern Mockingbird is the only expected species of mockingbird in North America and, at least where I live, very common indeed. This one I saw at Don Edwards National Wildlife Refuge, part of the San Francisco Bay refuge system.

Some people find mockingbirds a nuisance because of their late-night (even all-night) singing. For me, it's one of my favorite gifts from the bird world, something that sparked my interest in birds in the first place. When I was young, mockingbirds used to sing very late into the summer nights, rattling off so many unique phrases, it seemed that every single one was different and beautiful in its own right. I really loved hearing those songs cut through the silence of a warm night.