IBRC #8-B-12

Idaho Bird Records Committee
Rarities Report Form

Species: Northern Mockingbird

Reporter: Heidi Ware
2120 Mortimer Drive, Boise ID, 83712. heidithebirdnerd@yahoo.com
Other Observers: Jay Carlisle, Jessica Pollock, Rob Miller

Date Report Prepared: 1/2/12
Date Sighting Occurred: 1/2/12

Locality of Observation: Cattle Drive Road, off of Hwy 21 near CJ Strike reservoir
Habitat: In a narrow willowy/cattail area near some hot springs with flowing water on the side of the road
Conditions: partly cloudy, cold with some breeze. I used my Vortex Viper 10x42 binos.

Did you take notes? No
Did you consult a field guide or other reference work? after the observation
What guide(s) or reference(s) did you consult?
Sibley

Description: A robin-sized bird with a solid color gray back and head, light eye, black tail with white outer edges, and white patches on the dark wings. Bill was the distinct (slightly curved) “mockingbird beak”. (didn’t see chest or folded wings with binoculars). First seen from about 20 feet away.
Behavior: I first saw the bird when it hopped up into a thick willow bush (from near ground level) It perched there for probably 30 seconds, flew a short distance out of view, then flew away to a more distant Russian olive where it landed low to the ground and hopped around until it was out of view on the other side of the tree. It flared its tail when it first hopped up and again a few times after it landed in the olive.

How and when did you positively identify the bird, and what clinched the identification for you? I first glanced the bird out of the corner of my eye without binoculars when it hopped up in a dense willow. I noticed its size and that it had white on a mostly black tail. Because we had just seen a Spotted-towhee within a few feet of that area, I almost didn’t look at it again. As I watched its silhouette, it hopped up higher in the tree and I saw there might be more white in the tail than a towhee would have (and I thought that would be strange for a towhee to be so high). I pulled up my binoculars and all I could see was its head in profile perfectly framed through the twigs. I saw very clearly the light eye, gray face, and distinct bill and knew right away. I called out “woah, mockingbird!” Jessica was able to view the bird and confirm mockingbird, then Jay was able to see it in flight, and Rob also saw it flip its tail showing the pattern after it landed.
How did you eliminate similar species, and what were they?

There really aren’t any similar species, except for other species of mockingbirds which would be very rare (plus Tropical Mockingbird would not have white wing patches). It could possibly be confused with some sort of thrasher, but none have that tail pattern, wing pattern, and un-streaked gray coloring. Shrikes are also gray with black and white wing patterning in flight, but have a completely different face/bill and a dark eye.

Experience with this species (and similar species): I have seen around 10 Northern Mockingbirds (all in Idaho), and more than 50 Tropical Mockingbirds in Belize (I can easily recognize a mockingbird face). Plus I have seen many Sage Thrashers and shrikes.
General birding experience: I have been seriously birding since 2008, and besides Idaho have birded in Guatemala, Belize, and Kenya. I am very familiar with the expected species in Idaho, and feel confident with ID’ing many other species (life list of 900+).

Were photo(s), video, and/or audio obtained by you? (If yes, please include or attach) Bird was photographed a few days later by Rob Miller at the same location.