Last year in mid-June at the Mount Auburn Cemetery in Baltimore, a group
from the Baltimore Bird Club watched with some astonishment as a Catbird
gave an exact imitation of a Willow Flycatcher. The song was repeated a
number of times with typical Flycatcher pauses before the Catbird resumed
its normal chatter.
Bryce Butler

On 3/3/05 4:34 PM, "David Pierce" <> wrote:

> Seems to me I learned from Phil DuMont when I was a beginner( 1951)
> that you can recognize the Mimic thrushes by:
>         no repeats------------------ catbird
>          two or three repeats-------- brown thrasher
>        six or seven repeats-----------mockingbird
> 
> It's always worked pretty well for me with the eastern mimics.
> David Pierce
> 
> Speicher, James (NIH/NIAID) wrote:
> 
>> Kevin Caldwell wrote:
>> I'd swear to all ends that I'm hearing a great crested flycatcher
>> around my home, but don't think they could be here and calling this early.
>> 
>> Janet Millenson wrote:
>> I had the exact same experience a few years ago. The apparent
>> out-of-season flycatcher turned out to be a very talented mockingbird.
>> 
>> Ben Weinstein wrote:
>> I've had the exact same problem... After a half hour i did
>> find a northern mockingbird doing a fantastic impression of both a
>> Great Crested, and a brown thrasher.
>> ************************************************
>> Isn't it true that mockingbirds will clue you in to their masquerade
>> by the fact that they will repeat a phrase 6 or 7 times, before shifting to
>> another song for 6 or 7 repeats, shift again for 6 to 7 repetitions, etc.,
>> etc. and finally coming back to the "original" song?  At least that's what
>> i've found to be the case.  Isn't this mentioned in the newer guides?  I
>> believe I saw it is in my Robbins guide years and years ago.
>> 
>> Jim Speicher
>> Jspeicher-at-niaid.nih.gov
>> Rockville @work :(
>> Broad Run_S. FRED Co @home :)
>> 
>>  
>>