The Wikipedia article on the bird says that they often have over fifty songs in their repertoire. This one does, and he sings every single one for me, starting every night at midnight.
They don’t stop singing when they find a mate. It actually gets worse after that point, because then they’ve got territory and babies to defend. I’d say you’ve got about another three weeks or so until the babies are grown. And then they’ll start another brood. Hopefully somewhere else.
Back in the 1980’s, when I first visited my sister in the Silicon Valley area of California, there was a mocking bird in the neighborhood. He would fly from perch to perch at night and sing his long and complex song.
Coming from Alaska, I had to ask my sister, “What the hell is THAT?” (We have the Varied Thrush, whose spring song is eerie and rare.)
It was warm at night so we kept the upstairs windows of the guest room open, and at first I enjoyed the long hours of singing as an exotic treat. After a few days, I closed the windows and sweltered.
In the movie, HEAT, there is a scene where career criminal, Neil (Robert DeNiro), is trying to talk commercial artist, Eadie (Amy Brennerman), into going with him into retirement in New Zealand, the two of them alone in an empty highway pull-over at night. In the background, you can hear a mockingbird singing. I’ve always wondered if that was inserted by the director, Michael Mann, or just a happenstance that he kept in the film.
Yes, I like Mockingbirds too, but there is with them too much of a good thing.
Try Crows. Yes, that was plural. Every goddam morning they roost on our neighbor’s tree (right outside my bedroom window) and start their (screeching? Does that work for y’all) screeching.
A mockingbird once took up residence outside my parents’ bedroom window and learned to mimic the distinctive ringtone of their phone. For awhile, we thought we were getting a LOT of hang-up phone calls. :smack: