Northern MockingBird

This medium-sized bird has gray
upperparts and grayish, whitish underparts. The wings are gray-black with two white bars and large white patches, visible when spread. It has a long, gray tail edged with white, yellow eyes and black legs and feet. Feeds on fruit and insects. These birds are not sexual dimorphemic and both genders look similar. Except for the male looking slightly larger. They breed from northern California, southern Nebraska, southern Ontario, and Maritime Canada southward to southern Mexico and the West Indies. Spends winters in the southern parts of its range. Found in residential areas, city parks, farmlands, open country with thickets, and desert brush. A male mockingbird can learn up to 200 different songs. A mockingbird sings all throughout the day and into the night.The male sings different songs in the fall than in the spring. Northern mockingbirds tend to imitate other birds and sounds they hear.The mockingbird is the state bird of Texas, Tennessee, Mississippi, Florida, and Arkansas. This species was often captured for sale as a pet from the late 1700s to the early 1900s, and probably as a result it became scarce along much of the northern edge of its range. After the cage bird trade was stopped, the Mockingbird again became common in many areas.