FLORIDA’S STATE BIRD
The common Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos) is a superb songbird and mimic. Its own song has a pleasant lilting sound and
is, at times, both varied and repetitive. Often, the mockingbird sings all night long, especially under bright springtime moonlight.
Mockingbirds are usually about 10 inches in length, with a 15 inch wingspan, grayish upper portions, white undersides, and white patches on the tail and wings. The female has slightly less whiteness in its feathers than the male. The mockingbird is helpful to humans because it usually feeds on insects and weed seeds. In the summer and fall, it also eats ripe berries. The nest, a joint project of the male and female mockingbird, is a bulky, open cup of grass, twigs, and rootlets carelessly arranged tree or bush. The three to six eggs per nest are a pale with brown spots. This year-round Florida resident is its fierce defense of the family nest.
Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 3 of the 1927 legislative session designated the mockingbird as the state bird.
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