Common Name: Mockingbird, Northern mockingbird – The name mockingbird emphasizes an ability to repeat numerous sounds, especially those of other birds. The name is unintentionally pejorative as the word mock is from the French moquer with a connotation of making fun of usually in a derisive way. A better choice would be mimic-bird, but common is not necessarily sensical.

Scientific Name: Mimus polyglottos – The generic name is from Greek as mimos via Latin as mimus which both mean to imitate. The species name is also taken from Greek as the word for speaking many languages. [1] Taken together as “mime of many tongues,” it is one of the most apropos of all scientific names, surpassing the common name in relevance.

Potpourri:  The mockingbird is one of the more successful species of the avian diaspora that followed the extinction of all of the other dinosaurs, including many birds. Its most notable characteristic is an extensive repertoire of up to 200 different songs learned and expressed over the life of a male mockingbird (females sing less). Not infrequently, the songs are mimics not only of other birds, but also of random notes from natural sources. As a relatively drab bird feathered in many shades of gray, it is unobtrusive and easy to overlook. In spite of this, it is one of the three birds that dominate the state birds lists, almost all in the Southeast from Texas to Florida. This is no doubt due to its mastery of birdsong that is broadcast through the air to the ears of its ardent admirers.

Mockingbirds are members of the order Passeriformes commonly known as perching birds in that they have feet with three toes forward and one toe backward to facilitate grasping tree branches firmly and securely. Passeriformes comprise the largest order of the Class Aves and are frequently referred to as songbirds, even though songbird is technically a suborder. Over fifty percent of all bird species are passerines. Like most perching songbirds, mockingbirds are mostly monogamous, building nests in trees with a clutch of 2 to 4 eggs laid two or more times a year, and caring for fledglings from feeding to flight training. Mockingbirds stand out from their many cohorts in three general characteristic behaviors: The frequency and variety of birdsong, periodic extension of  the wings to reveal white feathers called wing flashing, and aggression toward animals, other birds, and even humans. [2] 

Mockingbirds, catbirds, and thrashers constitute the Mimidae Family, which, as its name indicates, are conjoined by superior singing skills. Its constituents include 11 genera with about 34 species worldwide; four genera and ten species perch and nest in North America. There is significant variation in the quality and quantity of song among the different species, from the catbird’s singular meow of its namesake to the complex intonations of the mockingbird. The brown thrasher is considered by most ornithologists to the apex chanteur. The mockingbird, however, is only marginally less gifted and earns plaudits from the general public due in large part to its ubiquity in the suburban habitats to which is has become well adapted. Both mated and unmated (looking for a mate) male and female mockingbirds sing with remarkable diversity that includes not only mimicking the songs or other birds but also a variety of random noises like a creaky wheelbarrow or whistling humans. While estimates vary considerably among different sources, the general consensus about 100 totally different songs with estimates ranging to over 200 at the top of the range. [3]

Why mockingbirds perform multi-song serenades is subordinate to the larger question of why birds sing at all. There are a number of plausible explanations, including signaling to a mate, looking for a mate, threatening an intruder, warning of a threat from an intruder, and that they simply enjoy making different sounds. There is no shortage of theories with limited factual data based on observation. Most if not all birds make a noise of some sort from the croaking of ravens to the honking of geese that are probably for signaling among the members of the flock and not much else. Songbirds go beyond monotone to multitone melodies sometimes syncopated with trills, warbles, and whistles.  From the physiological perspective, songbirds symphonize because they can, having a unique “voice box” called a syrinx which has two sides that can be independently controlled to produce two different tones at the same time. This must have been an evolutionary adaptation that could only have been retained and refined as it related to enhanced survival and procreation, suggesting mate selection as its provenance.

Most birds are monogamous for a good reason. Two birds are necessary so that one can sit on the nest eggs while the other forages for food, both of which are required for up to two weeks until altricial chicks reach maturity.  Mate choice is the general term for the sexual selection across the animal kingdom that can be defined as “any pattern of behavior shown by members of one sex, that leads to their being more likely to mate with certain members of the opposite sex than with others” [4] The degree to which this governs animal behavior is evident in the rituals of adolescent humans. While it is not possible to know with certainty what a female bird is looking for, there are some certainties. For bird species like mockingbirds with both sexes identically plumed, selection must be based on audible and/or behavioral factors as appearance like that of the sexually dimorphic cardinals is lacking.  Field observations of singing mockingbirds have revealed that unmated male mockingbirds sing and move around more than mated males, suggesting that both activities play a role in seeking sexual union. [5]     

Since mockingbirds are creative composers using mimicry as source material, the enumeration of their various songs is neither straightforward nor really possible. This has not stopped those enthralled with bird watching from making the attempt. As an example, one observer spent ten years mastering the different calls of 35 mockingbirds and noted a “repertory of imitations of thirty to thirty-five species which includes about 50 different imitations since several songs of some species are noted.” He reached the surprising conclusion that most of the different songs were inherited from “many generations back” while only a few were added by listening to the local environment. [6] Given the variability and geographic dispersion of mockingbirds, it would be improbable that one could conclude that there is a singular characteristic mockingbird song. It is reported that some mockingbirds have a separate repertoire for the spring season and a second set for fall. [7] Given the high level of mimicry, it also calls into question how birders seeking high count numbers can ever reliably establish speciation without visual sighting. But that in no way diminishes the pleasure of serenely walking through the woods enjoying the serenade of a mockingbird. As expressed by Longfellow’s poem Mocking-Bird [8]:

Then from a neighboring thicket the mocking-bird, wildest of singers,

Swinging aloft on a willow spray that hung o’er the water,

Shook from his little throat such floods of delirious music,

That the whole air and the woods and the waves seemed silent to listen.

Wing flashing is an equally confusing behavioral characteristic  that has confounded conclusive categorization. It consists of a rapid opening and closing of the wings and tail feathers simultaneously to create a series of white flashes contrasting brightly with the drab, gray plumage. Mockingbirds have been observed conducting a series of wing flashes over a field of open grass and then swooping down to administer the coup de grâce as the insects emerge from hiding. [9] However, the technique is not generally very successful. As a second caveat, rapid wing gestures are conducted by other members of the Mimidae Family that do not have contrasting white feathers. The use of wing flash has also been observed as a means to surprise and chase away intruders in the establishment and defense of  territory, to fend off predators, and, tellingly, by males to court females. [10] The latter cause is likely its provenance, for if female mockingbirds prefer males that flash, the trait, whatever its genetic source, would be passed on to progeny and preserved as an inherited penchant..

Mockingbirds are aggressive by avian standards. It is likely that their inherent pugnacity led them to habituate suburban habitats where frequent contact with humans and their artifacts is inevitable. One experiment evaluating mockingbird-human interaction consisted of  individuals repeatedly posing a threat  by closely approaching the nests of 24 different mockingbirds. After the second approach, the mockingbirds recognized the intruder and launched increasingly aggressive assaults to attempt to drive them away. [11]  Another manifestation of mockingbird aggression is known as “shadow boxing,” in which it attacks its own image, typically as reflected from glass or from a car mirror. The response, which can last for several seconds, involves repeated thrusts accompanied by wing flashes. [12] This is a self-evident manifestation of evolutionary behavior that enhances survival by driving off predators while stopping short of a self-destructive  kamikaze attack. The origin story of birds supports the general notion that they are highly evolved survivors.

While it has long been hypothesized that birds were related to dinosaurs, one group of which was even called bird-hipped, conclusive proof was lacking. The recent discovery of fully feathered fossil bird-dinosaurs carbon-dated to 150 million years ago established bird-dinosaurs as actual and therefore factual. The end-Cretaceous extinction 66 million years ago was caused by a meteoric impact with a force of about one million atomic bombs near the Chicxulub Pueblo on Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula that blocked the sun for weeks and led to years of winter. The dinosaurs perished due to lack of food, including those flying dinosaurs equipped with teeth. Birds with seed-cracking beaks survived on the long-lasting seed repositories of plant DNA that eventually also restored some of the land plants. A period of explosive evolution followed, as birds and mammals filled the now vacant habitats of the “terrible lizards,” resulting ultimately but not inevitably in Homo sapiens and Mimos polyglottos. [13]

The avian clade lost the gene responsible for the sweetness receptor in its dinosaur evolutionary past, during which flowers and fruits played an insignificant role in plant reproduction. Recent genomic research revealed that passerine or songbirds evolved a sweet receptor as a random mutation of the umami or protein receptor during their rapid expansion during the current Cenozoic Era. [14] Mockingbirds, like most songbirds, rely on fruits, mostly berries, for sustenance through the winter. They are also accused of plundering farmers’ fields, particularly tomatoes in Texas, and grapes in Florida. [15] This is likely because of they are frequently seen in the vicinity and wrongfully accused. A detailed study, in which 417 mockingbirds were dissected, revealed their stomach contents was 47.81 percent animal and 52.19 percent vegetable. The vegetable material was almost entirely wild berries, including pokeberry, elderberry, and mulberry. [16] It is, therefore, still a sin To Kill a Mockingbird.

References:  

1. Webster’s Third New International  Dictionary H. Benton Publisher, Merriam Webster Company, Chicago, 1971

2 Adlerfer, J. ed National Geographic Compete Birds of North America, National Geographic, Washington,” DC. pp 495-502.

3. Farnsworth, G. et al. “Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos), version 1.0”. Birds of the World. Cornell University. 4 March 2020

4. Rosenthal, G. Mate Choice, Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey, 2017, p 10.

5. . Lewin, R. “Mockingbird song aimed at mates, not rivals” Science, Research News, 19 June 1987 Volume 236. Issue 4808.

6. Laskey, A. “A Mockingbird Acquires His Song Repertory,” The Auk: 1944 Volume. 61: Issue 2, Article 3. In Digital Commons, University of South Florida, September 2024

7. “Northern Mockingbird Life History, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology”.  https://web.archive.org/web/20121020164934/http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Northern_Mockingbird/lifehistory    

8. https://discoverpoetry.com/poems/mockingbird-poems/#google_vignette  

9. . Fairfield, G. and Fairfield J. “Wing Flashing Behavior in a Northern Mockingbird” Ontario Birds, December 1997. Volume 15 Number 3.

10. . Peltier S. et al . “Wing-flashing in Northern mockingbirds while foraging and in response to a predator model”.  Northeastern Naturalist 2019

11. Levey, D. et al  . (2009-06-02). “Urban mockingbirds quickly learn to identify individual humans”. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 2 June 2009 Volume 106 Number 22 pp: 8959–8962.

12. Callaghan, C.  “Shadow-boxing’ by a Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos),” Florida Field Naturalist: 2017  Volume 45 : Issue 1 , Article 4.

13. Brusatte, S. “Bird Evolution” Scientific American, May 2026 pp 46-51.

14. Barker, F. “A Shift in Taste” Science, Volume 373 Issue 6551m 9 July 2921 pp 154-155

15. Holdsworth, G.  “Protecting Your Tomatoes From Mockingbirds”. Vegetable Gardener. 30 May 2013.

16. Beal, F.  et al. “Common birds of southeastern United States in relation to agriculture.” U.S. Department of  Agriculture (USDA) Farmer’s Bulletin 755, 1916,  p. 9. available at https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/56848073#page/13/mode/1up

Common Name: Mallard – From the Old French mallart and Latin mallardus, a combination form derived from the word male. The etymology is not well defined, but it is likely that the distinctive plumage of the male duck is the basis for distinguishing the species with a name derived from “male of the wild duck.” In France, the mallard is known as le canard colvert, roughly translated as duck with the green feathers on the side of the head. Duck is derived from Middle Dutch as düken, to dive underwater. Mallard ducks duck but don’t dive.

Scientific Name: Anas platyrhynchos – The generic name is the Latin word for duck which is ascribed to the Sanskrit ati meaning aquatic bird.  The species name is from the Greek platy meaning flat and rhynchos meaning snout, bill, or beak. Taken together the scientific name literally means flat-billed duck. [1]

Potpourri: The contrast between male drake and female hen mallard, known as sexual dimorphism, is among the most extreme of all vertebrates, affording an unmistakable visual key for identification. Carl von Linné originally listed the male and female as different species in the Linnean taxonomy classification system, believing that they could not possibly be the same.  The male drake’s iridescent dark green head, white neck ring, chestnut brown breast, brownish gray back and white flanks stand in stark contrast to the female’s maculation of buff, ecru, and dark brown. Mallards are prolific, having spread across the northern hemisphere as a global species. The North American contingent of mallards can even be considered a single population. [2] The evident evolutionary success of mallards, even though they are preyed on by human duck hunters, is due to several factors. Drakes are aggressive sexual predators, even though those that succeed settle on a single partner. Hens are selective in choosing mates that meet their criteria, which must impart qualities in their combined offspring that advance favorable adaptability and survival traits. Mallards are masters of ponds and lakes, which provide a measure of protection from terrestrial predators, and furnish an ample supply of water plants, their primary food source. Mallards are a duck dynasty.

Mallards are members of the Anatidae family, named for its characteristic “type” species, the duck genus Anas. It is comprised of ducks, geese, and swans, consisting of 49 genera and 158 species that range across the globe on every continent except Antarctica, a cosmopolitan distribution. Anatids are adapted for aquatic habitats, employing open water as a means of transport. For the most part, they have webbed feet for paddling locomotion and large, round bodies due to the physics of floatation. [3] The buoyancy that provides an upward force to float a duck is equal (and opposite) to the gravitational weight of water displaced by its semi-submerged body. This is important for ship hull construction and duck anatomy, both of which are elongated, rounded cylinders. Waterfowl are also unusual in that they are one of only a few types of birds (3 percent) that have a penis, necessary to ensure successful sperm transfer in an aqueous environment. It is a given that the ancestral bird cum dinosaur had a penis as it was reptilian in origin. The reduction and eventual elimination of the male sexual appendage in most birds is attributed to social behavior. Mating is based on mutual choice with the female usually having the greater say in the matter; many partnerships are lifelong. Since penetration is not forced, the act of intercourse amounts to what is euphemistically called the cloacal kiss. The cloaca (Latin for sewer) is the channel that serves as the passage for excrement and, in some cases like most birds, reproduction. Geese and swans follow the normal bird arrangement of mutual, lifelong partnerships in spite of the retention of a shortened penis for aquatic penetration. In Greek Mythology, Zeus took the form of a swan to impregnate Leda, who gave birth to Helen of Troy. Mallard sex is altogether different.

The sexual overdrive of mallards in particular and ducks in general can take extreme forms. In June 1995 a flying mallard collided with the glass front wall of the Rotterdam Natural History Museum in Holland and fell, limp and thoroughly dead at its base. A curator from the museum went to investigate and found not only the dead duck but also a live mallard actively engaged in intercourse that persisted for over an hour. The paper written on the subject, entitled “The First Case of Homosexual Necrophilia in the Mallard” won Harvard’s Ig Nobel prize in biology in 2003. The museum continues to celebrate “dead duck day”. While this particular observation may be an aberration, it is similar in sexuality if not in degree to other mallard drake behaviors such as gang rape. Groups of males are wont to chase after single hen females with repeated sexual assaults that sometimes results in fatal injuries. The cuckold whose mated hen was the object of the chase usually responds with aggressive assault to try to dissuade the rapists, manifesting male fitness evolution. [4] In the absence of available females, drakes have been observed attempting copulation with other (live) males. The evolution of mallard drake’s super libido is matched by the physical size and complexity of the penis. While the record goes to the Argentine lake duck with a 17-inch penis, the mallard is amply endowed with a spined member one third as long. It operates like a coiled party blowout noisemaker, unrolling and everting with lymphatic system pressure as it extends into the vagina of a willing or unwilling hen. In less than a second, it coils counterclockwise inward and upward as a flattened tape with a groove (the sulcus) on one side serving as sperm conduit.[5] However, male sexual dominance is not the whole duck story.

Female mallards exercise mate choice, just like most of their avian counterparts. It is not, however, a simple yes or no. The complex nature of duck sexual behavior became a matter of scientific interest early in the century. The explosive, almost instantaneous erection of the penis of mallards and several other ducks must have had some evolutionary origin and was a matter of some interest to the biological sciences. The first area of investigation led to the study of the vaginal structure of duck hens. A series of dissections of different species revealed considerable anatomical differences. While most ducks had simple, tubular passages as would be expected, mallard hens had convoluted structures with a number of side openings that led to dead ends. And, most surprisingly, the vagina was coiled clockwise, in the opposite direction of the counterclockwise drake penis. This led to the hypothesis that species of female ducks partnered males with intimidating sexuality had evolved a coping mechanism, coital sidetracking. To test the hypothesis, an ingenious experiment was devised in which male ducks were encouraged (using a hen as stimulation) to ejaculate into purpose-built glass vesicles that simulated either a corkscrew vagina with cul-de-sac outlets or a simple tubular design with no twists or turns. The data showed that the ducks using the straight, normal tubes were successful in full erections 80 percent of the time while those using the actual hen twisted coil arrangement were only 20 percent successful. This was supported by DNA testing of drakes, hens, and the resultant chicks showing that even though 40 percent of all mallard copulations are forced, no more than 5 percent of the chicks genetically matched to rogue drakes. In other words, the female was able to employ mate selection 95 percent of the time. [6

Scientific research conducted to unravel the complex sexuality of ducks contributes to a better understanding of birds in general and of biology more broadly. Mallards are particularly important for a number of reasons. One is population size. It is estimated that the 23 million individual mallards that make up the global population range over about 10 million square kilometers (one tenth) of the earth’s land surface. In some areas like the Chesapeake Bay, mallards are considered invasive. [7] A second is sexuality, for, in addition to assaulting hens and even dead males, mallard drakes are insatiable paramours. Introduced mallards interbreed with native duck populations to the extent that hybridization threatens to extirpate other duck species; it is estimated that 95 percent of New Zealand’s native gray ducks have been hybridized and that the Hawaiian duck has become completely hybridized on the island of Oahu. [8] Last but not least is human health and nutrition.  Ducks are the principal reservoir on Influenza A viruses, including the H5N1 variant, which, as recently as 2013, resulted in outbreaks in poultry in over 60 countries resulting in 622 human infections. [9] However, studying duck sex, when taken out of context, can sound ludicrous, not unlike many other scientific studies. As part of the political news cycle, the study was dubiously called Duckpenisgate and newscasters asked whether the public was aware that $385,000 of their tax dollars had been spent to study duck dicks. The war on science was just getting started.

Mallard behavior is hard-wired by genetic heritage, focused on reproduction. The annual cycle starts with the initiation of pair bonding in late fall that continues through to spring, migrating in most cases to breeding grounds for the mating season. [10] The sexual hormones ramp up from minimal during winter to what can only be described as overdrive as gonads grow thousands of times larger in only a few months.  Problems arise because the ratio of drakes to hens is skewed with the former outnumbering the latter, as is the case with most duck species. The problem is exacerbated by the concentration of ducks in their habitat. Ponds are limited in size and have an abundant food supply of aquatic plants. Since it would not be possible for any drake-hen couple to defend a pond, ducks are not territorial. [6] The combination of too many males in a restricted area with a large number of paired couples committed to copulation and reproduction is a recipe for mayhem. Males struggle to defend their mates from the testosterone driven bachelor drakes in search of fulfillment. After successful mating, controlled in part by hen selectivity, the favored drake continues to guard his mate during selection of a ground nest near the water and the laying of 9-13 eggs. The burden of sitting on the nest for a month and leading the hatched chicks to water rests entirely with the hen. The drake departs, molts and regrows flight feathers needed for the reverse migration to find a new mate for the next season. [11]

The love it and leave it behavior of male ducks is blighted according to human morality. Anthropomorphism, however, has no place in nature other than amongst us. The mallard drake dynasty is a product of time, space, and survival, as is the evolution of every other living thing. The evolution of the mallard is fairly recent, the genus Anas is thought to have originated sometime in the late Pliocene or early Pleistocene epoch, about two million years ago, probably in Siberia.[12] During the relatively brief geologic time scale period since then, the combination of aggressive males preying on females and the selectivity of females in their choice of males (presumably preferring those with coruscating green heads) has been a resounding success. The loss of hens sitting on ground nests to predators like foxes contributes to their numerical imbalance. The high demands on chick survival according to the same constraints would also result in survival of the strongest, usually male, of the species. There are therefore more males for the females to choose from to ensure that those with the “right stuff” get the reward of progeny. Drakes are aggressive because they have to be. Disney’s irascible Donald Duck character as foil to the benign Mickey Mouse is well cast.

References:

1.  Webster’s Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged Meriam Webster Company, New York, 1971, pp 78, 698, 1267

2. Starr, C. and Taggart, R. Biology, The Unity and Diversity of Life, Fifth Edition, Wadsworth Publishing Company, Belmont, California, 1989, p 539, 543.

3. Alderfer, J. ed Complete Birds of North America, National Geographic Society, Washington, DC, 2006, pp 2-42.

4. Barash, D. “Sociobiology of Rape in Mallards (Anas platyrhynchos): Responses of the Mated Male” Science, Volume 197 Issue 4305, 19 August 1977, pp 788-789

5. Schilthuizen, M. Nature’s Nether Regions, Penguin Group, New York, 2014, pp 125-129.

6. Prum. R. The Evolution of Beauty, Doubleday, New York, 2017, pp 149-181. The relevant chapter is entitled “Make Way for Duck Sex”

7. Smithsonian Institution Invasive Species https://invasions.si.edu/nemesis/chesreport/species_summary/anas%20platyrhynchos

8. Levin D. Hybridization and Extinction” American Scientist, Volume 90 Number 3, May-Jun 2002, p. 254.

9. Huang, Y. et al. (2013). “The duck genome and transcriptome provide insight into an avian influenza virus reservoir species”. Nature Genetics. April 29, 2014, Volume 45 Number 7 pp 776–783.

10. Cornell University Ornithology Laboratory https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Mallard/id

11. Rogers, D.  University of Michigan Ann Arbor Michigan, “ Anas platyrhynchos” https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Anas_platyrhynchos/

12. Johnsgard, P. “Anas platyrhynchos Linnaeus – Evolutionary relationships among the North American mallards”. The Auk.1961 Volume 78 Issue 1 pp 3–43