To know mockingbirds is to love them. Time out! Did I say this and really mean it? Well, sort of.
We've been graced with the presence of mockingbirds year round for several years in a row. I can't prove it but I think we may have the same mockingbird here year after year because life is very good in our yard. No mockingbird worth his 200 songs would give up the guaranteed endless supply of food and water we provide him.
Let's start with the feeders. We have at least eight feeders in the side yard and buffet style eating on the back deck. These go with two bird baths constantly supplied with fresh water, and in the winter time, heat, to keep them flowing. Add to this a natural supply of berries from bushes in the winter, an endless cornucopia of insects in the summer and voila, our mockingbird thinks he's died and gone to heaven!
I can't say the same for myself. Heaven for me is a restful eight hours of sleep. This doesn't happen when a certain bird is singing day and night!
Yes, our mockingbird is truly talented, so much so that he makes "The Voice" sound like a grade school competition.
A male mockingbird may acquire as many as 200 songs in his lifetime, many of them vocalizations of other birds. An un-mated male, which I suspect ours is, croons more at night and even more during full moons. With spring upon us, he's getting ready to crank up those lungs and belt out those late night ballads to impress the ladies. I think an urgent call to the mockingbird matchmaker is in order.
Only then may our "Frank Sinatra" tone it down and settle into marital bliss.
In the meantime, he is keeping himself very busy defending his feeding territory. To say he is fearless and gutsy would be an understatement. He never leaves the side yard. He is constantly on guard in the bushes and the trees. He flits and fights his way through the day, going after everyone including robins, starlings, grackles, tufted titmice, woodpeckers and cardinals.
Flocks of anything drive him crazy because he doesn't know who to go after first.
Watching him is like watching a ping pong ball getting batted back and forth for hours on end. The plump berries he so vehemently defends start to shrivel up and fall to the ground, yet he battles on. At the end of the day, he seems to have almost no time to eat, let alone recharge to sing at night. How does he do it? If I had even half the energy he has, I would be a whirling dervish of productivity!
At times I find his antics totally frustrating. Much of my photography is taken through the kitchen windows. The constant chasing here, there and everywhere leaves me little opportunity to get good shots. It's especially disappointing when I see something that seldom appears in the yard like red-breasted nuthatches. These little guys are quirky, quick flyers to begin with. Throw in the mockingbird and all I get are blurs zipping past me.
Despite my lack of sleep and paucity of photos when he's about, I have to admire my mockingbird. He is a virtuoso of the bird world, not only borrowing songs from others but creating his own, too. He is brave, feisty and determined to defend his territory.
I guess you could say he's a bird who sticks by his principles, even if he's obnoxious at times. If you're lucky enough to have one in your yard, enjoy him. He's one of a kind!
Latest Carroll County
410-857-7896
