Mockingbirds and thrashers | Mimidae

Spotlijsters | Sinsontes | Mockingbirds and thrashers

Medium-sized, slender songbirds with a long tail, sturdy legs and a straight to slightly curved bill, which feed much on the ground among shrubs and in open terrain. The family owes its name to mimicry; many species copy the calls and song phrases of their neighbours and weave in other sounds as well. The song is long and varied. They defend their territory fiercely and attack intruders that come too close to the nest. The nest is a sturdy cup of twigs in a dense, often thorny bush. The family is confined to the Americas; this guide includes ten species in two genera. The Tropical Mockingbird lives in open country in the north, the Long-tailed Mockingbird in the coastal desert and dry valleys of Ecuador and Peru, the Brown-backed Mockingbird in dry scrub high in the Andes of Bolivia, and the Chalk-browed Mockingbird in the Bolivian lowlands. The Galápagos have four species of their own, which set Darwin thinking about the origin of species: the Galápagos Mockingbird on most islands and three species each confined to its own island, of which the Floreana Mockingbird now survives only on two islets off Floreana. They are hardly shy there and live in groups that raise young together. The Grey Catbird comes from the north as a rare winter visitor.