One of my favorite backyard mockers at my former
  home in Elkton could do a perfect Black-whiskered
  Vireo. It led me to wonder where and for how long
  the mockingbird was exposed to the Vireo song.

Marcia

_________________________
Marcia Watson
Bowie, MD



Marcia

_________________________
Marcia Watson
Bowie, MD



  ---- Original message ----

    Date: Thu, 17 May 2012 11:24:20 -0400
    From: Janet Millenson <>
    Subject: Re: There oughta be a law ...
    To: 
    >I'd like to append a question to Leo's: How long
    does a particular
    >imitation stay in the mockingbird's repertoire?
    In other words, if (as
    >in Leo's example of the towhee) the mocker
    doesn't regularly hear a
    >particular birdsong or other sound, will that
    imitation fade from its
    >repertoire in a year or two? Or does the
    mockingbird keep adding new
    >tunes without dropping the old ones?
    >
    >
    >On 5/17/2012 10:34 AM, Leo Weigant wrote:
    >> Nancy, I share your . . . frustration.
    >>
    >> Which prompts me to report that this spring I
    seem to
    >> have a virtuoso mocker in my neighborhood who
    will
    >> sit in a bush and and run through a repertoire
    of nearly
    >> a dozen species one after another, including
    towhees
    >> (not a neighborhood bird).
    >> Only other tieme I heard such a concert was
    once, years
    >> ago, in Texas when Mark Garland ID'd 14 species
    calls
    >> from a mocker atop the motel where we stopped
    on an old
    >> ANS "Foray" trip.
    >>
    >> I suppose I should know, but don't ~ do they do
    this sort of
    >> showing off just during spring mating season?
    >>
    >> Leo Weigant
    >>
    >>
    >>
    >> On May 17, 2012, at 9:38 AM, Nancy Magnusson
    wrote:
    >>
    >>> ... against mockingbirds doing thrashers.
    >>>
    >>
    >
    >-Janet Millenson
    >Potomac, MD (Montgomery County)
    >
    >----------------------------------------------------------------
    >"Look at the birds!" -- Pascal the parrot
    >
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