Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit ’em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird
A Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird quotation
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Northern Mockingbird
The Northern Mockingbird, Mimus polyglottos, is the only mockingbird commonly found in North America. This bird is mainly a permanent resident, but northern birds may move south during harsh weather. This species has occurred in Europe as an extreme rarity.
Mockingbirds’ willingness to nest near houses, their loud and frequent songs, and their territorial defense often annoy people. Mockingbirds are often found in urban and suburban areas, where they perch on telephone poles, streetlights, or high points on buildings.
Identification Tips:
• Length: 9 inches
• Slender bill, yellow eye
• Gray head and upperparts
• White underparts
• Long black tail with white outer tail feathers
• White wing bars
• White patch in wing, especially visible in flight
• Black legs
• Sexes similar, juvenile has spotted breast
• Most often found in scrubby habitats and in urban areas
Both the male and female Northern Mockingbird are involved in the nest building. The male does most of the work while the female perches on the shrub or tree where the nest is being built to watch for predators. The birds aggressively defend their nest and surrounding area against other birds and animals.
This is the state bird of Arkansas, Florida, Mississippi, Tennessee and Texas.
Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit ’em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.
By Harper Lee
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Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit ’em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.
