Mocking birds: the many-tongued mimics

Hello, I’m Amanda McNulty with Clemson Extension and Making It Grow. Mocking birds get their name honestly – they can repeat all sorts of sounds, from creaking gates opening to dogs and sirens, my friend Ann Nolte heard one imitating a car horn. Their scientific name, Mimus polyglottos, means many-tongued mimic. They compose their own songs, repeating them over and over, singing songs from fifty other birds, and adding those mechanical sounds they hear from the environment. The bane of light sleepers, they’ll sing all night long as well as all day. Males sing to attract a mate. These birds mate for life, and usually raise two broods each year. It’s called the northern mockingbird as there’s a close relative living in Mexico and other places south. Even with that name, five southern states have chosen it as their state bird.