Mimid ID: Easy as 1,2,3

Another trip down to Iona Island to check on late summer activity produced a few mimics - a family of passerine birds known for their remarkable vocal abilities, including mimicking the sounds of other birds and environmental noises. This group includes the northern mockingbird, gray catbird, and brown thrasher. Mimids are often recognized by their diverse and complex songs, which play a crucial role in communication and mating. Their distinctive calls make them a fascinating subject for bird watchers and nature photographers alike. If you are already an avid birder, then this “lesson” will be old news. But for the novice birders out there, here is a quick tutorial on how to identify which mimid you are hearing….it really is as easy as 1,2,3!

Simply put, you listen for the number of repetitions of a “song” or call that the unknown mimid is singing. Let’s start with the most common and easiest to identify, the Northern mockingbird. The mockingbird sings the song of another bird or makes another natural “sound” and then repeats it a minimum of 3 times. Let’s just say I was a mockingbird calling out the word “Hello”. You would hear me sing ,”Hello….hello'…hello”. And then if the spirit moved me, I would sing it out another few times, but most likely, I would change to another song like, “It’s me, it’s me, it’s me”. And so on….listen to the recording of the mocking bird here and see if you can detect the triads the bird is singing.

Northern mockingbird - sings triads

So, that is the songster that repeats the song three times. Next is the Brown thrasher which repeats each song twice. You may hear some other songs of birds you know, because like the other mimics, he imitates the sounds of other birds. His song is kind of like “Hello, it’s me, hello, item” before moving on to more diads,

The Brown thrasher - sings a song, repeats it once again, and then moves on to the next song. Click below to hear his repertoire.

Finally, we have the Gray catbird who only sings each refrain once before moving on. In his case, it is “hello, , it’s me” and so on resulting in a rambling song of all sort of other birds calls and natural sounds. Often you’ll hear the “mew” sound of a cat from which this bird gets its name.

Gray catbird - sings each refrain once and then moves on…

And so…to identify which of the three mimids you are hearing, listen for the number of repetitions of each song the bird is mimicking. Once - it is a Gray catbird. Twice - Brown thrasher. And three times or more - Northern mockingbird. Easy as 1,2,3! Good luck and enjoy.