By Jay V. Huner
Journal Correspondent

Spring always brings the same question from my non-birding friends. Mild temperatures make it possible to leave windows open through the night and we hear sounds not often heard through closed windows. What was that bird near my window that sang the night through they ask? The songster is a male Northern Mockingbird singing to establish his territory and attract a mate. Almost every decent-sized yard has a pair.

Mockingbirds are medium-sized bird, a bit smaller and trimmer than a robin. Basic body color is gray with darker wings. So-called white window panes in the wings and white outer tail feathers are clearly displayed when mockers fly. Male mockers make up for their lack of colorful plumage with a remarkable voice and musical repertoire. Notes are quickly repeated three to six times with a pause followed by a repeat of the original song or a new song.

Birders often depend on a bird's song to identify it even if they cannot find it dense foliage. A mockingbird can create a great deal of trouble for so-called ear birders. Northern Mockingbirds can mimic almost any bird song. They can even mimic sounds like bells, whistles, squeaking doors and so on. The Northern Mockingbird does not migrate. But, it anticipates the arrival of migrant songbirds and launches into the songs of migrants up to 2-3 weeks before they actually arrive. So, it is important for birders to actually locate the source of an expected migrant songbird to make sure it is not a mockingbird. If, however, you are not a birder, per se, then just enjoy the songs.

Heck, mockingbirds imitate resident birds as well. We have a mocker in our yard that does a great imitation of at Killdeer. We have never had a Killdeer in our yard but have had them fly over. So, if the all is coming from the air, we know a Killdeer is flying over. If it comes from the bushes by the lake, it is our resident mockingbird.

Northern Mockingbirds are found from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean south of the Great Plains and northward into eastern Canada. European settlers and entrepreneurs along the Atlantic coast sent mockingbirds back to Europe because they were so impressed with their mastery of bird song. Fortunately, the Northern Mockingbird was never able to become established in Europe as they would certainly have displaced some native species there.

Mockingbirds are pretty aggressive birds. Pets, children and inattentive adults who stray too close to a mockingbirds' nest are soon subjected to squalling birds that will sometimes brush their heads and give them a nasty peck. When the climate is mild and food is plentiful, most mockingbirds will nest twice and sometimes a third time in a southern breeding season. They will lay 4-5 eggs and are attentive, protective parents. But, there are plenty of predators across our landscape to keep the numbers of mockingbirds in check. If not, we would be surrounded by mockers.

Most songbirds have songs and calls. Calls are sharp, non-musical notes. The Northern Mockingbird's call note is a loud, sharp CHECK, often heard before one heads for your head when you get too close to its nest!

The Northern Mockingbird feeds on animal prey including insects, worms, and spiders during the warm, breeding months of the year. However, animal prey is in short supply during the cool months and mockers feed heavily on berries in the winter, guarding yaupon and holly bushes fanatically.

Think you hear a mockingbird singing but the notes don't sound right - not in threes or sixes but generally in twos. Look for the source of the song and you will invariably find the Northern Mockingbird's cousin, the Brown Thrasher. This species is native to the eastern USA and Canada.

Thrashers are much more secretive than mockingbirds and blend nicely into the low bushes and brush piles they favor with their reddish brown backs and wings and mottled white and brown breasts. Brown Thrashers generally don't mimic the songs of other birds but are accomplished songsters well worth the time spent in listening to their songs. They are still classified as mimic thrushes. They are common throughout the piney woods but, unlike mockingbirds some do migrate, especially from northern climes, to the South with some spending the winter in Latin America. This is one reason why their numbers seem to increase dramatically during spring and fall songbird migration periods.

Brown Thrashers make a distinctive call that sounds like two nuts being sharply knocked together. This is described as a loud, smacking SMUCK.

Heck, now that you think you are able to separate Northern Mockingbirds from Brown Thrashers, you hear a song similar to those two birds but it does not repeat itself. Then you are sure that you hear a cat squalling in the brush and bushes near you. If you watch closely or make a pishing! sound, a dark gray bird that is shaped like a mockingbird may appear. It will have a black cap on its head and a tail that is black above and reddish brown (chestnut or brick red to some) below. Meet the last of our mimic thrushes, the aptly named Gray Catbird. Some are resident but, like Brown Thrashers, catbirds do migrate so numbers and encounters are always the greatest during spring and fall songbird migration periods. Unlike mockingbirds and thrashers, catbirds are rarely found around backyards. They prefer thick brushy areas away from humans. Distribution is similar to that of Brown Thrashers.

Pishing is the making of a sound with your lips that literally sounds like pish, pish, pish. Birders find that pishing will often attract songbirds into view from hiding places. So, if you see someone with binoculars making a pishing sound, you've met a birder.

Jay V. Huner, Louisiana Ecrevisse, 428 Hickory Hill Drive, Boyce, Louisiana 71409; 318- 793-5529 piku@classicnet.net

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