Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
Some researchers have suggested that mockingbirds may use other species' songs to
warn those species to keep away from their territories, but this possibility has never been
thoroughly investigated. There is no evidence that a mockingbird song has ever caused a
cell phone to head to another territory, even though they imitate those!
AtleastfourAmericanPresidentshadmockingbirdsaspetsintheWhiteHouse:Thomas
Jefferson, Rutherford B. Hayes, Grover Cleveland, and Calvin Coolidge.
MORE MIMICS
The Northern Mockingbird is
the best-known mimic in North America, but starlings,
in the same family as the mynah, are also famous for their mimicry. Wolfgang Amadeus
Mozarthadapetstarlingthatcouldmimictunesandmakevariationsofthem.Renowned
mimics, such as the lyrebirds of Australia and the Lawrence's Thrush of South America,
occur on other continents, too.
Male Marsh Warblers learn the sounds of other species on their wintering grounds in
Africa. Perhaps these varied sounds impress potential mates when they return to breed
in Europe. Indigobirds in Africa are also mimics, but for an entirely different reason.
Indigobirds are brood parasites that lay their eggs in the nests of other species. For ex-
ample, the Village Indigobird lays its eggs in the nest of the Red-billed Firefinch. Young
indigobirds learn the begging calls of the firefinches that raise them so they will not be
recognized as an intruder. Young male indigobirds also mimic their hosts.
The female Thick-billed Euphonia is a Neotropical bird that imitates the alarm calls
of other species when her nest is threatened. These sounds may get the attention of other
species to help in the attack of a predator or other perceived threat.
Some species not typically thought of as mimics sometimes imitate the vocalizations
of other species. Blue Jays imitate the calls of Red-tailed, Red-shouldered, and Broad-
wingedHawks,forexample.Thefunctionoftheseimitationsisunknown,butsometimes
jays call out a raptor imitation just before flying into a feeder, and when they do this, the
birds at the feeder often scatter.
Some observers have noticed that when jays imitate hawks, incubating birds some-
times fly up from their nests, so this mimicry may help jays to discover where nests are.
Jays raid nests for eggs and nestlings during their own breeding season, when protein is
critical for their own young.
