Exploring Nature: Northern Mockingbird

Let us consider the northern mockingbird. Its Latin name is “mimus polyglottos,” which translates to “the many- tongued mimic.”

This is very appropriate since this bird is indeed a storied singer and has a vocal repertoire of hundreds of song fragments. It usually repeats each song two or three times and unpaired male birds will sing at night to attract a mate. The northern mockingbird is the state bird of Texas — and also Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, Florida and Arkansas.

Thomas Jefferson called the mockingbird “a superior being in the form of a bird.” He also kept many as pets, including during his presidency.