Feathered Friday: the Northern Mockingbird

Want to become a birder but don't know how? Join me here every Friday--on Feathered Friday--where I'll post an online video featuring the bird of the week. Keep a running list of these birds to add to an Online Life List. Then when you identify the featured bird outside--in your yard, neighborhood, or park--add it to your actual Life List of birds seen or heard. "Collecting" birds is great fun, but more, you open your eyes and ears to a whole new world of beauty and song!

Some families of birds are easier to remember than others. For example, birds in the Family Mimidae are unforgettable because of their ability to mimic other bird songs and nature sounds. I even recall a story about a bird in this family of mimics--can't now think of the species--that could imitate a lawn mower or some other machine. (I'll try to track that story down.) But why explain when you can just take a moment and listen?

Now if you want to read more on the nature of the Mockingbird's song (both males and females sing), then visit the link below for a quick trip to Cornell Lab of Ornithology's web site All About Birds:

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/northern_mockingbird/sounds

If you've been with us from the start of Feathered Friday, you now have eight birds on your Online Life List! If you're new to this blog, then check out the earlier videos to claim these birds. And if any are already known to you (you've seen or heard them in your yard or park or woods), then claim these for your actual Life List. And become a birder with us!

And until next time . . . Keep birds in your heart!

Georgia Anne