Aggressive bird!
A couple of days ago I was observing the birds going about the feeders, among the few going around I saw a N. Mockingbird chasing most birds away from the grapes I placed on the ground near the feeding area. Later I saw this Mockingbird hopping around the grassy slope to our creek then I saw something that surprised the hell out of me. The Mockingbird picked a small vole, shook and tossed it around that was all he diid. Didn’t eat it, just killed it I guess. What was that? I’ve seen that behavior in hawks and crows but never such aggressiveness in a Mockingbird.
Have any of you seen that before? Let me know.
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- N. Mockingbird standing on one foot
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- N. Mockingbird
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- N. Mockingbird
H.J. Ruiz - Avian101 
We have a bird in our yard (central Illinois) that looks like your N Mockingbird photo. He showed up a week ago and within 5 or 6 days all our other birds have disapppeared. We had up to 12 species coming: woodpeckers, cardinals, juncos etc. I have observed other birds in the bushes but if they come close the feeding area, he swoops at them. Now I see more blue jays but even they are few and far between.
Hi Carlye,
You’re probably right when you identified that bird as a N. Mockingbird. Mockingbirds act very aggressive when they first go to a new feeding place, however if they decide to roost nearby they will become the protectors of the birds which visit regularly your feeders. I’ve observed something similar in my backyard. Just yesterday my wife spotted a bluebird by the feeders. I grabbed my camera and before I could get ready to shoot the Mockingbird from our area flew like a kamikaze and chased the bluebird away. I’m okay with that! Bluebirds are pretty but they love to steal eat eggs from other birds by breaking in nests, especially belonging to small birds. I wouldn’t worry, in the next few days you will know if the Mockingbird decides to stay or leave. Thank you for visiting my blog. 🙂