My mocker's only claim to fame is imitating perfectly the squeaky  
fence gate, which makes constantly go check to see who came in...

Joan


On May 17, 2012, at 11:44 AM, Marcia Watson wrote:

>  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
>>
>> ############################
>>
>> To unsubscribe from the MDOSPREY list:
>> write to:
>    mailto:[log in to unmask]
>> or click the following link:
>> http://home.ease.lsoft.com/scripts/wa.exe?SUBED1=MDOSPREY&A=1
>
> ############################
>
> To unsubscribe from the MDOSPREY list:
> write to: mailto:[log in to unmask]
> or click the following link:
> http://home.ease.lsoft.com/scripts/wa.exe?SUBED1=MDOSPREY&A=1

############################

To unsubscribe from the MDOSPREY list:
write to: mailto:[log in to unmask]
or click the following link:
http://home.ease.lsoft.com/scripts/wa.exe?SUBED1=MDOSPREY&A=1