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Mockingbirds are a group of New World passerine birds from the family Mimidae. They are best known for the habit of some species
Molecular systematics and biogeography of Antillean thrashers, tremblers, and mockingbirds (Aves: Mimidae)
" '' Auk'' 118(1): 35–55. DOI:10.1642/0004-8038(2001)118 035:MSABOA.0.CO;2Barber, Brian R.; Martínez-Gómez, Juan E. & Peterson, A. Townsend (2004) "Systematic position of the Socorro mockingbird ''Mimodes graysoni''." '' J. Avian Biol.'' 35: 195–198.
The only mockingbird commonly found in North America is the northern mockingbird ''(Mimus polyglottos)''. The Greek word means 'multiple languages'. Mockingbirds are known for singing late at night, even past midnight.
When the survey voyage of HMS ''Beagle'' visited the Galápagos Islands in September to October 1835, the naturalist Charles Darwin noticed that the mockingbirds ''Mimus thenca'' differed from island to island, and were closely allied in appearance to mockingbirds on the South American mainland. Nearly a year later when writing up his notes on the return voyage he speculated that this, together with what he had been told about Galápagos tortoises, could undermine the doctrine of stability of species. This was his first recorded expression of his doubts about species being immutable, which led to his being convinced about the transmutation of species and hence evolution.
Mockingbird videos, photographs and sound recordings
on the Internet Bird Collection
Mockingbird singing
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mockingbird Mimidae Symbols of Mississippi Bird common names
mimicking
In evolutionary biology, mimicry is an evolved resemblance between an organism and another object, often an organism of another species. Mimicry may evolve between different species, or between individuals of the same species. Often, mimicry ...
the songs of other birds and the sounds of insects and amphibians, often loudly and in rapid succession. There are about 17 species in two genera
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nomenclat ...
, although three species of mockingbird from the Galapagos Islands were formerly separated into a third genus, '' Nesomimus''. The mockingbirds do not appear to form a monophyletic
In cladistics for a group of organisms, monophyly is the condition of being a clade—that is, a group of taxa composed only of a common ancestor (or more precisely an ancestral population) and all of its lineal descendants. Monophyletic gro ...
lineage, as '' Mimus'' and '' Melanotis'' are not each other's closest relatives; instead, '' Melanotis'' appears to be more closely related to the catbirds
Several unrelated groups of songbirds are called catbirds because of their wailing calls, which resemble a cat's meowing. The genus name ''Ailuroedus'' likewise is from the Greek for "cat-singer" or "cat-voiced".
Australasian catbirds ar ...
, while the closest living relatives of '' Mimus'' appear to be thrashers, such as the sage thrasher.Hunt, Jeffrey S.; Bermingham, Eldredge; & Ricklefs, Robert E. (2001):Molecular systematics and biogeography of Antillean thrashers, tremblers, and mockingbirds (Aves: Mimidae)
" '' Auk'' 118(1): 35–55. DOI:10.1642/0004-8038(2001)118 035:MSABOA.0.CO;2Barber, Brian R.; Martínez-Gómez, Juan E. & Peterson, A. Townsend (2004) "Systematic position of the Socorro mockingbird ''Mimodes graysoni''." '' J. Avian Biol.'' 35: 195–198.
The only mockingbird commonly found in North America is the northern mockingbird ''(Mimus polyglottos)''. The Greek word means 'multiple languages'. Mockingbirds are known for singing late at night, even past midnight.
Species in taxonomic order
''Mimus'': * Brown-backed mockingbird, ''Mimus dorsalis'' * Bahama mockingbird, ''Mimus gundlachii'' * Long-tailed mockingbird, ''Mimus longicaudatus'' * Patagonian mockingbird, ''Mimus patagonicus'' * Chilean mockingbird, ''Mimus thenca'' * White-banded mockingbird, ''Mimus triurus'' * Northern mockingbird, ''Mimus polyglottos'' * Socorro mockingbird, ''Mimus graysoni'' * Tropical mockingbird, ''Mimus gilvus'' *Chalk-browed mockingbird
The chalk-browed mockingbird (''Mimus saturninus'') is a bird in the family mimidae. It is found in Brazil, Bolivia, Argentina, Paraguay, Suriname, and Uruguay.
Taxonomy and systematics
The chalk-browed mockingbird has four subspecies, the n ...
, ''Mimus saturninus''
Formerly ''Nesomimus'' (endemic to the Galapagos):
* Hood mockingbird, ''Mimus macdonaldi''
* Galápagos mockingbird, ''Mimus parvulus''
* Floreana mockingbird or Charles mockingbird, ''Mimus trifasciatus''
* San Cristóbal mockingbird, ''Mimus melanotis''
''Melanotis'':
* Blue mockingbird, ''Melanotis caerulescens''
* Blue-and-white mockingbird, ''Melanotis hypoleucus''
Charles Darwin
When the survey voyage of HMS ''Beagle'' visited the Galápagos Islands in September to October 1835, the naturalist Charles Darwin noticed that the mockingbirds ''Mimus thenca'' differed from island to island, and were closely allied in appearance to mockingbirds on the South American mainland. Nearly a year later when writing up his notes on the return voyage he speculated that this, together with what he had been told about Galápagos tortoises, could undermine the doctrine of stability of species. This was his first recorded expression of his doubts about species being immutable, which led to his being convinced about the transmutation of species and hence evolution.
References
External links
Mockingbird videos, photographs and sound recordings
on the Internet Bird Collection
Mockingbird singing
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mockingbird Mimidae Symbols of Mississippi Bird common names