There is a mockingbird outside my window right now. When I go out it follows me around. It’s not agressive, just follows me around. I’ve gotten within one foot of it. I see by it’s beak it’s a bug eater, but I have no bugs. What’s the deal with this wild bird? I seem to remember that Thomas Jefferson had a pet mockingbird (named Pete?). Could it be an escapee? Could it be ill? This bird doesn’t seem to care about my cats and their intense interest in it. I hear it out there: calling for me I guess. Could it be one of the chicks I saved last spring? I really doubt imprinting works that way.
Does it look cool?
If it does… capture it and sell it
If it is ugly…throw an apple at it and make it go away
If it is normal looking…congratulations on a new friend
It’s possible that someone’s been feeding him, and he’s lost his natural wariness of humans, though I’ve noticed that the mockingbirds around here (No. VA) are fairly blasé about humans getting close to them.
While they generally won’t bother with things like sunflower seeds, they will eat fruit (there are feeders specially designed for spiking half an orange or apple, so the birds can get at them), and will probably come to a suet feeder if the suet has bugs and/or berries in it (yes, there are such things, Virginia!).
Try to use positive reinforcement, such as food scraps or praise, whenever it sings to you. This will encourage it to become a more vocal songbird.
But if that mockingbird don’t sing, papa’s gonna buy you a diamond ring.
Friendly? Those things are downright belligerent in Florida. They will snatch a sandwich right out of your hand if you aren’t looking. I thought they were interesting for awhile, but now they are in my “sea gull” category.
I like mockingbirds. I especially like to watch them negotiate territorial disputes. The building where I work has a medium sized parking lot – in the morning, you can watch them bounce back and forth across the lot tracing out the line of their territory. A car will come, they will leave, then come back and continue where they were. We think that where we have our car is our parking place. They certainly have other ideas.