Just about 10 years ago, when I was still on the staff at Balcones Canyonlands NWR here in Central Texas, I wrote a blog post for the Friends group which documented the repertoire of one particular N. Mockingbird which had clearly learned most of its songs from a distant avifauna. A link to that encounter is paste below. (The Friends group web site has since been reformatted and most of the bird images are no longer properly linked but the text is still intact.) The take-away: Mockers may learn local songs but then they themselves may relocate to a distant location.
https://www.friendsofbalcones.org/chucks-STUFF/335519
2 Likes
Interesting conversation. I don’t think it’s needed as a new “interaction->” field, but only because it’s stretching the definition of a species interaction. It certainly would be interesting to keep track of all the other species being mimicked by mockingbirds in an area. I’m not too sure what the most efficient way is to do that on iNat.
It’s better to add those species to the place list and add an abundance mark that will fit the species in the situation.
There’s no ability to find out where the bird heard the calls, if it’s spring and a Starling is making Bullfinch calls or Jay is behaving like a crazy cat or Icterine Warbler makes all alarming calls it learned through its life, it’s very likely it heard it at least last season or it could learn something while it was somewhere in Central Africa. So I’m up for observation field of mimicked sounds.
2 Likes
I recorded a mockingbird just yesterday, impressed with its repertoire and skill, with the intention of trying to decode its mimicked songs myself. I got partway through the song. You can hear and see here:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/42637816
I see iNaturalist as two things: a record keeper of species I have observed myself, and also a database of species present. For the first, a mockingbird’s song definitely doesn’t fit the bill, so by making observations for each mimicked species, I’d be doing myself and my records a disservice. For the second, Audubon says that, while mockingbird migration is poorly understood, “some move southward in fall, at least short distances, but some remain through winter at northern limits of range.” So how would you know you don’t have one that has traveled at least some distance?
Also, you have to ask what would be your purpose in reporting the mimicked birds as present. It’s not to fill out your own list of observed species, so I imagine it would be to fill out iNat’s database with possible species present. Well, if those species really are present, then it’s likely someone else or even yourself has/have actually reported a wren, a jay, and a titmouse there because they/you actually saw them. If those mimicked birds have not been seen and reported directly, then that suggests the mockingbird may have learned the song elsewhere.
The train of my logic here suggests to me that there is not a good reason to report the mimicked species as present, unless there’s something I haven’t thought of. But it’s fun to listen and list them in the description! =)
2 Likes
Ashley, based on the story in the blog link I included above, I think there is good reason NOT to report “observations” of bird species mimicked by a local mockingbird. The original location, timing (last year? earlier?), and even species identification are all just too iffy.
that’s not what was done. there was an observation for a mockingbird created, and notes were added in the description to indicate what other birds were heard in the song.
2 Likes
That’s good information!
This topic was automatically closed 60 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.