http://www.democraticunderground.com/1208404Oh my.
Old campfire, but still burning.
TuxedoKat (2,488 posts) Wed Oct 31, 2012, 09:29 AM
Attracting Mockingbirds
Hi, I'm new here and happy to have found this group on DU, after four years! Anyway, I was having a discussion earlier this year on DU about Mockingbirds, rhapsodizing about how wonderful they are, their unique song, etc., when I realized in all the years I've been at my current location (18), I've never seen one in my yard or neighborhood -- and I miss them. I live in a small town out in the country with lots of vegetation and trees on my property (2 acres), including apple trees, raspberries, blackberries, some holly bushes, and other wild fruit bushes. I just planted 8 blueberry bushes this summer too.
Has anyone successfully attracted Mockingbirds to their yard or have any ideas how? I'm trying to buy more plants/bushes/tress etc., to attract them. Just bought a Serviceberry and plan to get a Pyracantha and some more Holly bushes. I read somewhere that putting mirrors in your yard might get their attention? When I drive into more populated areas 20-30 minutes away I will see Mockingbirds, but not out here. Maybe it is too rural where I am though.
First up, the primitive with the sensitive bottom:
Curmudgeoness (10,253 posts) Wed Oct 31, 2012, 07:02 PM
1. I have never tried to attract mockingbirds, but it sounds like you are doing the right things. They are mostly insect eaters, and if they were around your yard already, I bet they would love a tray of mealworms. But that wouldn't bring them there in the first place.....and it could run into a lot of money if they did find it.
They also like suet, and from what I have noticed from watching them, they prefer to eat on a platform instead of from a feeder. Not sure, but maybe they don't like to perch on a feeder.
Personally, I have never been able to attract birds that I have not seen in my area. But I also know that changes in your landscape may help. I share your love of mockingbirds and wish that I could find them here in W PA like I did in Houston. I have seen one ever up here, and not near my house.
TuxedoKat (2,488 posts) Wed Oct 31, 2012, 08:03 PM
2. Thanks
I've read some similar things about them preferring platform feeders, suet and mealworms. I'm going to put one up in a big open space in my yard where alot of birds flyover and maybe if one is out and about it will be attracted to it. I will probably put a birdbath out near there too, and maybe putting mirrors out too. I will let you know if I have any success.
I did put up a platform feeder and more suet feeders this year. The first day of the platform feeder I saw a Rose-Breasted Grosbeak. I've only ever seen one a few times before and never in my yard. Unfortunately I haven't seen that bird since then. Just this week I have started seeing a Red-Bellied Woodpecker at my suet feeders so that is pretty cool.
I forgot to add that I also read somewhere that Mockingbirds like dripping water or sprinklers. This summer when I saw some Mockingbirds they were bathing themselves in a sprinkler next to some bushes and would fly in and out of the water from/to the bushes. I did get a sprinkler and I will try that again next year too.
Curmudgeoness (10,253 posts) Wed Oct 31, 2012, 08:32 PM
3. I have many birds that just stop by once a year.
Rose-breasted Grosbeaks are one of those birds....actually two, I see a pair if I am lucky for one or two days in the spring, then they move on. I was most surprised one year when a flock of Cedar Waxwings spent a day here, even though they are presumably not seed eaters. Feeding and watching birds is my hobby. I have gotten to the point that all I feed now is shelled sunflower seeds, because all the birds in the area seem to love them.
TuxedoKat (2,488 posts) Wed Oct 31, 2012, 11:19 PM
4. Yes
Me too, some birds I just see in the spring, early summer and fall -- Cedar Waxwings, Baltimore Orioles, Indigo Buntings, Grosbeaks, Loons and other water fowl. I'm pretty far north though (upstate NY) and this was in June, I think that I saw that Grosbeak. It always makes me wonder how much farther north they feel they have to go!
Bird watching/feeding is one of my hobbies too. When I was a child I thought about being an Ornithologist. I mostly feed the shelled sunflower seeds too, but lately I notice the American goldfinches are going crazy for Niger Thistle, more so than in the summer.
Going to do some more research on those Mockingbirds. Maybe in 4-5 years the Cherry trees I planted will get their attention.
fadedrose (5,936 posts) Thu Mar 21, 2013, 04:11 PM
17. I was born in McKeesport
It was a wonderful town before the mills all closed. Also lived in Saltsburg/Indiana PA...moved there because McKeesport "closed" itself.
We had cardinals come to our feeder, and some birds I didn't recognize THEN.
Cedar waxwings show up here for 2 weeks, then they are gone for another year. They like serviceberry trees (which grow well in PA, I had one there), and they and the robins have learned to share the fruit here. It was rough going at first, but I think they know that they HAVE to share. Both have babies at that time.
What part of PA do you live?
Curmudgeoness (10,253 posts) Thu Mar 21, 2013, 07:05 PM
18. My father was raised in the McKeesport area.
You were not all that far from where I am.....well, a couple of hours, I guess. I am just east of Youngstown OH, which is the closest city around...I am right on the PA/OH border.
I have no room for trees, but would love to have a serviceberry for the birds. When my aunt passed away, they were putting in a memorial garden at a park, and I donated a tree----I requested a serviceberry. But I can't complain about having no room for more trees, since I have five mature oaks on a small city lot, and they provide millions of acorns! And lots of birds like them, as well as all the squirrels.
You make me laugh about knowing cardinals, and not all the other birds. I was raised with my mom knowing a lot of birds, so I learned them....and there is a bird book beside the window for those special birds we didn't know. Don't ask how long it took my mom and I (before she passed away) to figure out a female grosbeak when we didn't have a male.
Nay (5,580 posts) Sat Dec 1, 2012, 10:45 PM
5. Our mockingbird pair eats two things: suet and an apple cut in half that I impale on a nail. They're there every day, scooping up apple and nibbling on suet.
TuxedoKat (2,488 posts) Sun Dec 2, 2012, 08:09 PM
6. Thanks
How do you offer the suet? On a platform feeder? I have suet feeders and I put some suet in a hanging platform feeder too. I will add some apples too. I plan to get a platform feeder to put in another area of the yard that is open to the sky to try and attract them.
XemaSab (57,297 posts) Sun Dec 2, 2012, 08:19 PM
7. I have a couple suet baskets
I think they cost about 2 bucks a pop, and suet blocks are a dollar a pop at the Tractor Supply.
Nay (5,580 posts) Mon Dec 3, 2012, 01:17 PM
9. I have 2 hanging suet baskets.
JDPriestly (37,038 posts) Thu Mar 14, 2013, 04:39 AM
11. Is it possible that the wings on mockingbirds look blue during the early Spring?
I think that the birds in my yard (the larger ones) are mockingbirds. They sing beautifully on and on. I love them. In the early Spring they look sort of blue. Then they turn gray and black.
I'll try the apple to see if I can get a better look at them. I have a worm bin and have cultivated worms in my garden. Maybe that is why they like our house.
csziggy (14,016 posts) Sun Dec 2, 2012, 11:40 PM
8. Once you do get mockingbirds, they may chase off other birds
They are very territorial and don't like to share their area.
For many years we didn't have mockingbirds here at our farm. a few years back a pair moved into the big live oak in front of the house. One sits out there all day harassing any other bird that tries to hang out in the front. They even dive bomb the entire flock of mourning doves. They've chased off the wood thrush and hermit thrush that used to live in the low branches of the oak. I'd much rather have those shyer birds than the obnoxious mockingbirds!
TuxedoKat (2,488 posts) Mon Dec 3, 2012, 10:34 PM
10. Sounds like this is a be careful of what you wish for situation. I don't remember the ones we had in MD being overly territorial as we had two nesting in tree right next to our house and then some Cardinals had a nest in the same tree shortly after they did, and I always saw plenty of other birds around our yard too. The same species of bird can act differently in other areas though. Cardinals where I lived in the midwest and in MD were not shy. Up here, in NY state, they are less of them and they are more reclusive. I rarely see them at feeders or get to get very close to them.
locks (322 posts) Mon Mar 18, 2013, 12:58 PM
12. mocking is right
One time I visited some friends in Morgan Hill CA in the summer and was delighted to see mockingbirds and to hear their many songs. Until I went to bed, that is. Right on cue at 4:00 am they began their hundreds of disparate and copying melodies right outside my bedroom window and they never stopped! As much as I love birds I was glad to get back to CO where I could get some sleep.
Aerows (13,475 posts) Wed Mar 20, 2013, 10:20 PM
14. They will attack, too
They have memories on par with crows, and will dive at you if you EVER in your life bothered to threaten their nest, even on accident.
Aerows (13,475 posts) Wed Mar 20, 2013, 10:18 PM
13. I live in Mississippi
You can call to them, and eventually, they will mimic you. They are interesting, but territorial birds. They harass the heck out of my cat (with good reason).
Neat, neat birds with a vocabulary to stun most. I love them, even with their ill-tempered ways
Mississippi has primitives?
I thought Mississippi was a higher-class joint than that.
TuxedoKat (2,488 posts) Thu Mar 21, 2013, 09:17 AM
15. I know
they can sometimes be annoying, I've been dive-bombed by them, but that didn't bother me. I miss hearing their beautiful songs and wouldn't mind if they woke me at 300AM. I'm hoping eventually some will settle in our area.
fadedrose (5,936 posts) Thu Mar 21, 2013, 01:19 PM
16. When I lived in Arlington
100 years ago, I saw my first mockingbirds. Never saw them in home state of PA or here in Michigan.
You will get a good sighting on the web for sure, also find out what they like to eat.
The site I went to recommended suet, because any bird that likes insects likes suet. You will also attract woodpeckers.
I make suet, and there are tons of recipes on the web. Mockingbirds don't like seeds that much, so your suet can be plain...
In warm places, the suet will melt, so you add flour to keep it from melting. I use masa harina (cooked corn flour) and the suet I melt down is made up of vegetable oil and meat products - mixed. The only place that has this 3-lb can here is Krogers. Any store has suet - it melts down and you can form it in many creative ways, or use empties from purchased suet (which is what I do).
Melt the fat, add flour, let it cool and when it's comfortable to work with, form it.
You can add whatever foods they like to the suet.
Good luck with getting the mockingbirds. I miss seeing them keep cats captive under automobiles in the parking lot of the apartment building we lived in. They are not afraid of cats, and the cats were sure afraid of them.
http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Secrets-of-Attracting-Mockingbirds-Using-Bird-Feeder-Plans&id=5972124
