BIODIVERSITY

The northern mockingbird’s bright white wing patches are clearly evident as it flies from treetop to treetop (though don’t mix it up with the acorn woodpecker, which also has them).  But most people notice mockingbirds on campus and in faculty housing not from sight, but from their long, loud, varied, and repetitive songs.  Their songs vary widely, however; one of these is from an individual in faculty housing. Another is from below VK—listen for the imitations of crickets and frogs, as well as other local species such as the Bewick’s wren and the scrub-jay.