Tropical Mockingbird
Encyclopedia
The Tropical Mockingbird, Mimus gilvus, is a resident breeding bird
from southern Mexico
south to northern Brazil
, and in the Lesser Antilles
and other Caribbean
islands. The birds in Panama
and Trinidad
may have been introduced. The Northern Mockingbird
(M. polyglottos) is its closest living relative, but the critically endangered
Socorro Mockingbird
(M. graysoni) is also much closer to these two than previously believed .
Adults are 25 cm long and weigh 54g. They are grey on the head and upper parts with yellow eyes, a white eye stripe and dark patch through the eye. The underparts are off-white and the wings are blackish with two white wing bars and white edges to the flight feathers. They have a long dark tail with white feather tips, a slim black bill with a slight downward curve, and long dark legs.
The sexes are alike, but immature birds are duller and browner. M. g. tobagensis, found only on Trinidad and Tobago
, has darker grey upper parts and more extensive white on the wing coverts and tail than the mainland forms.
This bird has a varied and musical song, huskier than that of Northern Mockingbird, and may imitate the songs of neighbouring Tropical Mockingbirds, but rarely those of other birds. It will sometimes sing through the night.
This mockingbird
is common in most open habitats including human habitation. Tropical Mockingbirds forage on the ground or in vegetation or fly down from a perch to capture invertebrate
s. They mainly eat insects and some berries. These fearless birds will also take food off unattended plates or tables. While foraging they will frequently spread their wings in a peculiar two-step motion, flashing the white wing linings, and then fold them again.
It builds a twig nest and the normal clutch is three greyish-green eggs. Incubation, by the female alone, is 13–15 days, with slightly longer again to fledging. This bird aggressively defends its nest against other birds and animals, including large iguana
s, dog
s and mongoose
s.
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
from southern Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
south to northern Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
, and in the Lesser Antilles
Lesser Antilles
The Lesser Antilles are a long, partly volcanic island arc in the Western Hemisphere. Most of its islands form the eastern boundary of the Caribbean Sea with the Atlantic Ocean, with the remainder located in the southern Caribbean just north of South America...
and other Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
islands. The birds in Panama
Panama
Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
and Trinidad
Trinidad
Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands and numerous landforms which make up the island nation of Trinidad and Tobago. It is the southernmost island in the Caribbean and lies just off the northeastern coast of Venezuela. With an area of it is also the fifth largest in...
may have been introduced. The Northern Mockingbird
Northern Mockingbird
The Northern Mockingbird, Mimus polyglottos, is the only mockingbird commonly found in North America. This species was first described by Linnaeus in his Systema naturae in 1758 as Turdus polyglottos....
(M. polyglottos) is its closest living relative, but the critically endangered
Critically endangered
Version 2010.3 of the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species identified 3744 Critically Endangered species, subspecies and varieties, stocks and subpopulations.Critically Endangered by kingdom:*1993 Animalia*2 Fungi*1745 Plantae*4 Protista-References:...
Socorro Mockingbird
Socorro Mockingbird
The Socorro Mockingbird, Mimus graysoni, is an endangered mockingbird endemic to Socorro Island in Mexico's Revillagigedo Islands. The specific epithet commemorates the American ornithologist Andrew Jackson Grayson....
(M. graysoni) is also much closer to these two than previously believed .
Adults are 25 cm long and weigh 54g. They are grey on the head and upper parts with yellow eyes, a white eye stripe and dark patch through the eye. The underparts are off-white and the wings are blackish with two white wing bars and white edges to the flight feathers. They have a long dark tail with white feather tips, a slim black bill with a slight downward curve, and long dark legs.
The sexes are alike, but immature birds are duller and browner. M. g. tobagensis, found only on Trinidad and Tobago
Tobago
Tobago is the smaller of the two main islands that make up the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. It is located in the southern Caribbean, northeast of the island of Trinidad and southeast of Grenada. The island lies outside the hurricane belt...
, has darker grey upper parts and more extensive white on the wing coverts and tail than the mainland forms.
This bird has a varied and musical song, huskier than that of Northern Mockingbird, and may imitate the songs of neighbouring Tropical Mockingbirds, but rarely those of other birds. It will sometimes sing through the night.
This mockingbird
Mockingbird
Mockingbirds are a group of New World passerine birds from the Mimidae family. They are best known for the habit of some species mimicking the songs of other birds and the sounds of insects and amphibians, often loudly and in rapid succession. There are about 17 species in three genera...
is common in most open habitats including human habitation. Tropical Mockingbirds forage on the ground or in vegetation or fly down from a perch to capture invertebrate
Invertebrate
An invertebrate is an animal without a backbone. The group includes 97% of all animal species – all animals except those in the chordate subphylum Vertebrata .Invertebrates form a paraphyletic group...
s. They mainly eat insects and some berries. These fearless birds will also take food off unattended plates or tables. While foraging they will frequently spread their wings in a peculiar two-step motion, flashing the white wing linings, and then fold them again.
It builds a twig nest and the normal clutch is three greyish-green eggs. Incubation, by the female alone, is 13–15 days, with slightly longer again to fledging. This bird aggressively defends its nest against other birds and animals, including large iguana
Iguana
Iguana is a herbivorous genus of lizard native to tropical areas of Central America and the Caribbean. The genus was first described in 1768 by Austrian naturalist Josephus Nicolaus Laurenti in his book Specimen Medicum, Exhibens Synopsin Reptilium Emendatam cum Experimentis circa Venena...
s, dog
Dog
The domestic dog is a domesticated form of the gray wolf, a member of the Canidae family of the order Carnivora. The term is used for both feral and pet varieties. The dog may have been the first animal to be domesticated, and has been the most widely kept working, hunting, and companion animal in...
s and mongoose
Mongoose
Mongoose are a family of 33 living species of small carnivorans from southern Eurasia and mainland Africa. Four additional species from Madagascar in the subfamily Galidiinae, which were previously classified in this family, are also referred to as "mongooses" or "mongoose-like"...
s.