Scientific Name:   Mimus polyglottos

Length:   8.3-10.2 in (21-26 cm)

Weight:   1.6-2.0 oz (45-58 g)

Wingspan:   12.2-13.8 in (31-35 cm)

Nest:   They nest in shrubs and trees, typically 3-10 feet off the ground but sometimes as high as 60 feet. Northern Mockingbirds rarely ever reuse their nests. The construction consists of dead twigs shaped into an open cup, lined with grasses, rootlets, leaves, and trash, sometimes including bits of plastic, aluminum foil, and shredded cigarette filters. The male constructs the twig foundation while the female makes most of the lining.

Eggs:   3-4, sometimes 2-6. Variably greenish to bluish gray, with blotches of brown usually concentrated at larger end. Incubation is by female, 12-13 days.

Feeding Behavior:   Their diet consists of spiders, grasshoppers, ants, beetles, earthworms, berries, fruits, seeds, and occasionally small crustaceans and lizards. Mockingbirds can drink from puddles, river and lake edges, or dew and rain droplets that gather on plants. These birds forage on the ground or in vegetation; they also fly down from a perch to capture food.

Young:   Both parents feed the nestlings. Young leave the nest about 12 days after hatching, not able to fly well for about another week. 2-3 broods per year.

Range:   The mockingbird's breeding range is from the Maritime provinces westwards to British Columbia, practically the entire continental United States south of the northern Plains states and Pacific northwest, the Greater Antilles, and the majority of Mexico. The mockingbird is generally a year-round resident of its range, but the birds that live in the northern portion of its range have been noted farther south during the winter season.

Brief Description:   The northern mockingbird has long legs and tail. Males and females look alike. Its upper parts are colored gray, while its underparts have a white or whitish-gray color. It has parallel wing bars on the half of the wings connected near the white patch giving it a distinctive appearance in flight. The black central rectrices and typical white lateral rectrices are also noticeable in flight.