A Razorback Bird

Mockingbirds don't do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don't eat up people's gardens, don't nest in the corncribs, they don't do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That is why it's a sing to kill a mockingbird.
--Miss Maudie Atkinson

As all Arkansans know the Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottus) is our state bird. This one nests in my front yard every ever and serenades us from the same perch all summer. The courtship rituals are always fun to watch. Males perform a flight display, which shows off their white wing patches. In the flight display, males sing continuously while flying a few meters into the air and then parachuting slowly back down. It is really weird to watch. They can live up to 8 years in the wild and 20 years in captivity. However, it is this bird's singing ability that gives it the Latin name "mimics many tongues." It can mimic 39 different songs and over 50 different call notes. Some Mockingbirds have been caught imitating the sounds of dogs and cats. And talk about aggressive, I have seen these guys chasing off crows (4x their size), cats, and even dive-bombing humans. They like to eat bugs (I have never seen one at my bird feeders) and right after I mow they flock to the lawn looking for crickets and other exposed insects. They are protected by not endangered.