Mocking Bird Sing-Along
Morning tunes from the Mimus Polyglottos - with video
Mocking birds. I love the Latin name Mimus Polyglottos = “Mimics Many Languages”. A mocking bird can sing on and on for hours - sometimes throughout the night. Most other birds sing the same thing over and over, eg "chirp chirp cheee chirp chirp cheee " or "tweet-tweet tweet-tweet." But not the mocker! He sings every other birds' songs and arranges them in really novel ways.
Thank you to my sister, Susan Bassano, who recorded this happy bird in her back yard this week. You cannot see him, but it is the music of only one bird.
Here are three songs I heard one morning and transcribed. Read them aloud. If you know anything at all about mocking birds, it will make sense.
Song I
badger badger badger
weep! weep!
tickle tickle
tickle tickle tickle
crick! crick!
tickle crick! tickle crick!
nerd
nerd nerd nerd
nerd
nerd nerd
nerd.
Song II
beep! beep! beep!
dirty dirty dirty dirty
cue cue
cue cue
churrrrrrr churrrrrrr
wicca-wicca
wicca
birdie? birdie? birdie?
birdie? birdie?
freeee freeee freeee
bird bird bird
winga
winga winga
tree.
Song III
peter peter peter
pete! pete!
click!
jack! jack! jack! jack!
did it did it
did it did it
hurry up hurry up hurry up
wheat! wheat!
Chip chip chip chip chip chip
chip chip chip chip chip chip
chip
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Being a Starlin, I can speak Bird. You did a good job translating. Except the first one is “nerf” (ball) not “nerd.” Its southern accent probably threw you off. 🐦
Excellent Sharron. There is no bird quite like them. They are everywhere here too. As you said, day or night, they can go on and on almost endlessly, never repeating the same pattern or sound. - Jim