By: Sally Siko

Northern mockingbirds are notoriously chatty!
Starting just before dawn, their vocal performances can stretch on into the night hours. They are renowned as skilled copycats, often mimicking other birds and can even replicate sounds such as those of ringing cell phones, human whistling and car alarms.
Male northern mockingbirds without mates are particularly noisy. An adult male mockingbird can emit up to 200 distinctive notes.
In addition, Mockingbirds do indeed have songs of their own included on their playlists. Their repertoire includes incorporating melodies of their own creation that are not directly taken from other avian species.

Although they are quite common here in Raleigh NC, I couldn’t resist grabbing a few portraits of this one at Yates Mill Park today.
This one was acting a bit peculiar as he was sitting quietly in a bush, not worrying one bit about me as I took a few photos of him from just a few steps away.
He didn’t seem stressed or sick, just quiet and relaxed. Usually these birds fly away when I approach them with my cameras in hand.
It was cool to get a good look at this handsome one up close 🙂 Photos by @sally_siko of @birdwatching_nc
Canon 5Ds