Mockingbird
? Mockingbirds |
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Northern
Mockingbird
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Scientific classification | |||||||||||
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Genera
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Melanotis Mimodes Mimus Nesomimus |
Mockingbirds are a group of New World passerine birds best known for the habit of some species of mimicking the songs of other birds, often loudly and in rapid succession.
Most species are tropical; the Northern Mockingbird is the species familiar throughout the United States and Canada. It is the state bird of Tennessee, Texas, Mississippi, and Florida.
There are 17 species in four genera.
Genus Melanotis
- Blue Mockingbird Melanotis caerulescens
- Blue-and-white Mockingbird Melanotis hypoleucus
Genus Mimodes
- Socorro Mockingbird Mimodes graysoni
Genus Mimus
- Brown-backed Mockingbird Mimus dorsalis
- Tropical Mockingbird Mimus gilvus
- Bahama Mockingbird Mimus gundlachii
- Long-tailed Mockingbird Mimus longicaudatus
- Large-billed Mockingbird Mimus magnirostris
- Patagonian Mockingbird Mimus patagonicus
- Northern Mockingbird Mimus polyglottos
- Chalk-browed Mockingbird Mimus saturninus
- Chilean Mockingbird Mimus thenca
- White-banded Mockingbird Mimus triuris
Genus Nesomimus ( Galápagos Islands)
- Española Mockingbird Nesomimus mcdonaldi
- San Cristóbal Mockingbird Nesomimus melanotis
- Galápagos Mockingbird Nesomimus parvulus
- Floreana Mockingbird Nesomimus trifasciatus (extremely rare)
Genetic tests have shown that mockingbirds are most closely related to starlings.