2006 Young Naturalist Awards - An Analysis of Mockingbird Nesting Behavior in Residential Areas

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 >

The site of the nest

When I saw a bird fly across our yard, I stopped to watch it. I saw it enter a bush between our yard and our neighbor's yard. I got a ladder and checked out the bush and saw that it contained a nest with four blue-green speckled eggs. Suddenly, a second bird swooped down and dive-bombed me! After I stumbled off the ladder, I wondered why the birds had chosen to build their nest in this suburban area between two homes, so close to residential construction and just a few hundred yards from a major road. I decided to observe the birds to find out if having their nest so close to all this activity would affect their ability to care for their nestlings. Figures 1 and 2 show how close the nest is to our next-door neighbor's home and to our driveway. The red "X" marks the bush where the nest is located.

A mockingbird

Observations

I took some photographs of the birds to help me identify them using my field guide. I had some trouble at first figuring out whether the birds were loggerhead shrikes or mockingbirds, but close inspection revealed that they were mockingbirds. The photo shows one of the parents with an insect in its mouth.

I did some research on mockingbirds and learned some interesting facts about them. Mockingbirds will not only attack humans (as they had me), but researchers have found that they can "recognize individual humans and will selectively attack them while ignoring other humans who pass by" (FloridaGardener.com). In fact, mockingbirds have been known to attack predatory birds, even bald eagles, when their territory is invaded (Doughty, 1998). Some believe the mockingbird's bravery is the reason it has been chosen as the state bird for five states (Doughty, 1998).

During the late 1700s and early 1800s, mockingbirds were popular as pets because of their beautiful singing. By the 1900s the demand for mockingbirds nearly led to their extinction. People then began to release their birds. Mockingbirds have thrived as a result; in fact, mockingbirds can now be found in Hawaii and even Canada (Coe).

Newly hatched mockingbird chicks in nest.

On March 25, I looked in the nest and saw that there were four hatched chicks. I knew there would be much activity near the nest. Seven small children live on the cul-de-sac, in addition to several cats and large dogs. The neighborhood also has quite a bit of ongoing residential construction. I wanted to find out if all the chicks would survive in such an environment. I didn't know if their feeding schedules would be disrupted by the presence of noisy children, or if the nestlings would perhaps fall prey to neighborhood cats. I decided to do some video surveillance to monitor the birds. I could collect more data this way and at the same time minimize my disturbance of the birds.

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 >