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Art by Barry Kent MacKay

(Artwork - 252)
Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos)

The Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos) is very close to being my answer when I am asked, as a frequently am, what is my favorite bird. Note that the generic name, Mimus, is what I use for my e-mail address. I really have no one favorite species…but it was a mockingbird named Misty, who we raised from chickhood when I was in my teens (the nest, the first for the region, just north of Toronto, had been destroyed by a cat, the siblings killed). At the time I was indoctrinated by mentors and scientific literature to think of birds being more or less automatons…driven by reactive instincts “triggered” as an unthinking response to whatever “stimulus” was encountered, minus any cognitive activity. While that idea did not square with what I was observing, Misty convinced me the scientists were wrong. More to the point, I was impressed by just how engaged he was with the very act of living…there were active and inquisitive thoughts in that handsome head.

Of course, we now know that birds are quite cognitive, but may use different parts of their brains than do mammals, for different purposes.

Mockingbirds were then thought to be related to thrushes or wrens, but we now know they are related to starlings and mynahs, a family known as Sturnidae. But the latter are native only to the eastern hemisphere (including Australia and Oceania) while the mockingbirds’ family, Mimidae, is entirely native to the New World, and include thrashers, tremblers and the New World catbirds. I have illustrated all the species of Mimids, a group of birds I find to be endlessly fascinating to watch – and draw and paint, too.  It is believed that the progenitors of Sturnids and Mimids diverged in eastern Asia some 20 to 25 million years ago. Many Sturnids are brightly colored, some very iridescent, while Mimids are colored in shades of grey, brown, tan, black, white, and rust, a few with a bit of gloss but none brightly iridescent. Both families are skilled vocalists and some species, including mockingbirds, skilled mimics, mockingbirds perfectly imitating a wide range of species.

Where I live, in southern Ontario, the mockingbirds are near the northern limit if their range, which includes much of temperate North America and parts of the Caribbean. Locally they are increasingly common, presumably in response to climate change.  They live in urban and suburban areas, parks, orchards, and hedgerows. They are slightly smaller than American Robins or Blue Jays, and weigh about 40 to 58 grams (about 1.4 to 2.0 oz). My painting is approximately life size, in oils on compressed hardboard, and is about 12 by 9 inches.

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