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Mockingbirds Are Southerners
If a mockingbird had an accent, it would be a thick, Southern drawl.
© Becky Matsubara
It wasn’t until the 19th century that Northern Mockingbirds began nesting in the Northeastern states. In the 20th century, the birds expanded their range into Ohio and the upper Midwest. Much of California saw the arrival of mockingbirds in the 20th century, too. Habitat change due to humans played a part in their range expansion. Also, many mockingbirds had previously been trapped for the caged bird trade or shot as agricultural pests, and they rebounded when these practices were set aside.
Today's show brought to you by the Bobolink Foundation.
BirdNote®
Mockingbirds Are Southerners
Written by Bob Sundstrom
This is BirdNote.
[phrases from a Northern Mockingbird song, https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/157962441#_ga=2.46611047.131896634.15…, 0.22-.28; use in background throughout]
If a mockingbird had an accent, it would be a thick, Southern drawl.
They were birds of the Southern states first. It wasn’t until the 19th century that mockingbirds began nesting in the Northeastern states. In the 20th century, the birds expanded their range into Ohio and the upper Midwest. Much of California saw the arrival of mockingbirds in the 20th century, too, expanding from the state’s desert Southeast.
Habitat change due to humans played a part in their range expansion. The birds thrive in fields with hedgerows, shrubs and fruit trees. Changes in wildlife policy helped, too. Many mockingbirds had previously been trapped for the caged bird trade or shot as agricultural pests. They rebounded when these practices were set aside.
But what about their official name: seems peculiar to call this traditional Southerner a Northern Mockingbird. The “Northern” actually distinguishes them from their even more southerly counterpart, the Tropical Mockingbird of Central and South America.
But who knows, maybe the Northern Mockingbird is still a Southerner at heart.
[Northern Mockingbird song]
For BirdNote, I’m Michael Stein.
Today’s show brought to you by the Bobolink Foundation.
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Producer: John Kessler
Executive Producer: Sallie Bodie
Editor: Ashley Ahearn
Associate Producer: Ellen Blackstone
Assistant Producer: Mark Bramhill
Bird sounds provided by The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. ML157962441 recorded by G Freisen.
BirdNote’s theme was composed and played by Nancy Rumbel and John Kessler.
© 2020 BirdNote February 2020
ID# NOMO-03-2020-02-18 NOMO-03 Narrator: Michael Stein
https://birdsna.org/Species-Account/bna/species/normoc/distribution
Bob Sundstrom
Writer
Michael Stein
NarratorSights & Sounds
