Northern Mockingbird in Lake County
2018-06-07

'Rare Regular' in Minnesota

This mockingbird was found near downtown Two Harbors along the RR tracks just S of the railroad museum. During the half hour or so that I had it in view, it sang almost the entire time and had quite a varied repertoire. During one 2-minute period it imitated 9 different species (Greater Yellowlegs, Northern Flicker, American Kestrel, Eastern Phoebe, Blue Jay, Purple Martin, White-breasted Nuthatch, Eastern Bluebird, and Clay-colored Sparrow). Then at other times, in addition to some non-specific sounds, I also heard it mimick 6 other species (Mallard, Great Crested Flycatcher, Tufted Titmouse, Carolina Wren, Kentucky Warbler, and Northern Cardinal) – for a grand total of 15 species.

Kim R. Eckert; "digiscope" image with 25-50x Leica spotting scope.