Skip to Content
Abert’s Towhee Acadian Flycatcher Acorn Woodpecker Alder Flycatcher Allen’s Hummingbird Altamira Oriole American Avocet American Bittern American Black Duck American Coot American Crow American Dipper American Golden-Plover American Goldfinch American Kestrel American Oystercatcher American Pipit American Redstart American Robin American Three-toed Woodpecker American Tree Sparrows American White Pelican American Wigeon American Woodcock Anhinga Anna’s Hummingbird Arctic Tern Arizona Woodpecker Ash-Throated Flycatcher Atlantic Puffin Audubon’s Oriole Bachman’s Sparrow Baird’s Sandpiper Baird’s Sparrow Bald Eagle Baltimore Oriole Band-tailed Pigeon Bank Swallow Barn Owl Barn Swallow Barred Owl Barrow’s Goldeneye Bay-breasted Warbler Bell’s Vireo Belted Kingfisher Bendire’s Thrasher Bewick’s Wren Black Guillemot Black Oystercatcher Black Phoebe Black Rail Black Rosy-Finch Black Scoter Black Skimmer Black Swift Black Tern Black Turnstone Black Vulture Black-and-white Warbler Black-backed Woodpecker Black-bellied Plover Black-bellied Whistling-Duck Black-billed Cuckoo Black-billed Magpie Black-capped Chickadee Black-capped Vireo Black-chinned Hummingbird Black-chinned Sparrow Black-crested Titmouse Black-crowned Night-Heron Black-footed Albatross Black-headed Grosbeak Black-legged Kittiwake Black-necked Stilt Black-throated Blue Warbler Black-throated Gray Warbler Black-throated Green Warbler Black-throated Sparrow Blackburnian Warbler Blackpoll Warbler Blue Grosbeak Blue Jay Blue-footed Booby Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Blue-headed Vireo Blue-throated Hummingbird Blue-winged Teal Blue-winged Warbler Boat-tailed Grackle Bobolink Bohemian Waxwing Bonaparte’s Gull Boreal Chickadee Boreal Owl Botteri’s Sparrow Brandt’s Cormorant Brant Brewer’s Blackbird Brewer’s Sparrow Bridled Titmouse Broad-billed Hummingbird Broad-tailed Hummingbird Broad-winged Hawk Bronzed Cowbird Brown Booby Brown Creeper Brown Pelican Brown Thrasher Brown-capped Rosy-Finch Brown-headed Cowbird Brown-headed Nuthatch Buff-bellied Hummingbird Buff-breasted Flycatcher Buff-breasted Sandpiper Bufflehead Bullock’s Oriole Burrowing Owl Bushtit Cackling Goose Cactus Wren California Condor California Gull California Quail California Thrasher California Towhee Calliope Hummingbird Canada Goose Canada Jay (Previously Gray Jay) Canada Warbler Canvasback Canyon Towhee Canyon Wren Cape May Warbler Carolina Chickadee Carolina Wren Caspian Tern Cassin’s Auklet Cassin’s Finch Cassin’s Kingbird Cassin’s Sparrow Cassin’s Vireo Cattle Egret Cave Swallow Cedar Waxwing Cerulean Warbler Chestnut-backed Chickadee Chestnut-collared Longspur Chestnut-sided Warbler Chihuahuan Raven Chimney Swift Chipping Sparrow Chuck-will’s-widow Chukar Cinnamon Teal Clapper Rail Clark’s Grebe Clark’s Nutcracker Clay-colored Sparrow Cliff Swallow Colima Warbler Common Eider Common Gallinule Common Goldeneye Common Grackle Common Ground-Dove Common Loon Common Merganser Common Murre Common Nighthawk Common Pauraque Common Poorwill Common Raven Common Redpoll Common Tern Common Yellowthroat Connecticut Warbler Cooper’s Hawk Cordilleran Flycatcher Costa’s Hummingbird Couch’s Kingbird Crescent-chested Warbler Crested Caracara Crissal Thrasher Curve-billed Thrasher Dark-eyed Junco Dickcissel Double-crested Cormorant Dovekie Downy Woodpecker Dunlin Dusky Flycatcher Dusky Grouse Eared Grebe Eastern Bluebird Eastern Kingbird Eastern Meadowlark Eastern Phoebe Eastern Screech-Owl Eastern Towhee Eastern Whip-poor-will Eastern Wood-Pewee Elegant Tern Elf Owl Emperor Goose Eurasian Collared-Dove Eurasian Tree Sparrow Eurasian Wigeon European Starling Evening Grosbeak Ferruginous Hawk Field Sparrow Fish Crow Flammulated Owl Florida Scrub-Jay Forster’s Tern Fox Sparrow Franklin’s Gull Fulvous Whistling-Duck Gadwall Gambel’s Quail Gila Woodpecker Gilded Flicker Glaucous Gull Glaucous-winged Gull Glossy Ibis Golden Eagle Golden-cheeked Warbler Golden-crowned Kinglet Golden-crowned Sparrow Golden-crowned Warbler Golden-fronted Woodpecker Golden-winged Warbler Grace’s Warbler Grasshopper Sparrow Gray Catbird Gray Flycatcher Gray Kingbird Gray Partridge Gray Vireo Gray-cheeked Thrush Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch Great Black-backed Gull Great Blue Heron Great Cormorant Great Crested Flycatcher Great Egret Great Gray Owl Great Horned Owl Great Kiskadee Great-tailed Grackle Greater Pewee Greater Prairie-Chicken Greater Roadrunner Greater Sage-Grouse Greater Scaup Greater White-fronted Goose Greater Yellowlegs Green Heron Green Jay Green-tailed-towhee Green-winged Teal Groove-billed Ani Gull-billed Tern Gunnison Sage-Grouse Gyrfalcon Hairy Woodpecker Hammond’s Flycatcher Harlequin Duck Harris’s Hawk Harris’s Sparrow Heermann’s Gull Henslow’s Sparrow Hepatic Tanager Hermit Thrush Hermit Warbler Herring Gull Hoary Redpoll Hooded Merganser Hooded Oriole Hooded Warbler Horned Grebe Horned Lark Horned Puffin House Finch House Sparrow House Wren Hudsonian Godwit Hutton’s Vireo Inca Dove Indigo Bunting Ivory-billed Woodpecker Juniper Titmouse Kentucky Warbler Killdeer King Eider King Rail Kirtland’s Warbler Ladder-backed Woodpecker Lapland Longspur Lark Bunting Lark Sparrow Laughing Gull Lawrence’s Goldfinch Lazuli Bunting Le Conte’s Sparrow Le Conte’s Thrasher Least Bittern Least Flycatcher Least Grebe Least Sandpiper Least Tern Lesser Black-backed Gull Lesser Goldfinch Lesser Prairie-Chicken Lesser Scaup Lesser Yellowlegs Lewis’s Woodpecker Limpkin Lincoln’s Sparrow Little Blue Heron Loggerhead Shrike Long-billed Curlew Long-billed Dowitcher Long-eared Owl Long-tailed Duck Louisiana Waterthrush Lucifer Hummingbird Lucy’s Warbler MacGillivray’s Warbler Magnificent Frigatebird Magnificent Hummingbird Magnolia Warbler Mallard Mangrove Cuckoo Marbled Godwit Marsh Wren Masked Duck McCown’s Longspur Merlin Mew Gull Mexican Jay Mississippi Kite Montezuma Quail Mottled Duck Mountain Bluebird Mountain Chickadee Mountain Plover Mountain Quail Mourning Dove Mourning Warbler Mute Swan Nashville Warbler Neotropic Cormorant Northern Bobwhite Northern Cardinal Northern Flicker Northern Fulmar Northern Gannet Northern Goshawk Northern Harrier Northern Hawk Owl Northern Mockingbird Northern Parula Northern Pintail Northern Rough-winged Swallow Northern Saw-whet Owl Northern Shoveler Northern Shrike Northern Waterthrush Northwestern Crow Nuttall’s Woodpecker Oak Titmouse Olive-sided Flycatcher Orange-crowned Warbler Orchard Oriole Osprey Ovenbird Pacific Golden-Plover Pacific Loon Pacific-slope Flycatcher Painted Bunting Painted Redstart Palm Warbler Pectoral Sandpiper Pelagic Cormorant Peregrine Falcon Phainopepla Philadelphia Vireo Pied-billed Grebe Pigeon Guillemot Pileated Woodpecker Pine Grosbeak Pine Siskin Pine Warbler Pinyon Jay Piping Plover Plain Chachalaca Plumbeous Vireo Prairie Falcon Prairie Warbler Prothonotary Warbler Purple Finch Purple Gallinule Purple Martin Purple Sandpiper Pygmy Nuthatch Pyrrhuloxia Razorbill Red Crossbill Red Knot Red Phalarope Red-bellied Woodpecker Red-breasted Merganser Red-breasted Nuthatch Red-breasted Sapsucker Red-cockaded Woodpecker Red-eyed Vireo Red-faced Warbler Red-headed Woodpecker Red-naped Sapsucker Red-necked Grebe Red-necked Phalarope Red-shouldered Hawk Red-tailed Hawk Red-throated Loon Red-winged Blackbird Reddish Egret Redhead Ring-billed Gull Ring-necked Duck Ring-necked Pheasant Rock Pigeon Rock Ptarmigan Rock Sandpiper Rose-breasted Grosbeak Roseate Spoonbill Roseate Tern Ross’s Goose Rough-legged Hawk Royal Tern Ruby-crowned Kinglet Ruby-throated Hummingbird Ruddy Duck Ruddy Turnstone Ruffed Grouse Rufous Hummingbird Rufous-capped Warbler Rufous-winged Sparrow Rusty Blackbird Sabine’s Gull Sage Sparrow Sage Thrasher Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed Sparrow Sanderling Sandhill Crane Sandwich Tern Savannah Sparrow Say’s Phoebe Scaled Quail Scarlet Tanager Scissor-tailed Flycatcher Scott’s Oriole Seaside Sparrow Sedge Wren Semipalmated Plover Semipalmated Sandpiper Sharp-shinned Hawk Sharp-tailed Grouse Short-billed Dowitcher Short-eared Owl Slate-throated Redstart Smith’s Longspur Smooth-billed Ani Snail Kite Snow Bunting Snow Goose Snowy Egret Snowy Plover Solitary Sandpiper Song Sparrow Sooty Grouse Sora Spotted Owl Spotted Sandpiper Spotted Towhee Sprague’s Pipit Spruce Grouse Steller’s Jay Stilt Sandpiper Summer Tanager Surf Scoter Surfbird Swainson’s Hawk Swainson’s Thrush Swainson’s Warbler Swallow-tailed Kite Swamp Sparrow Tennessee Warbler Thick-billed Murre Townsend’s Solitaire Townsend’s Warbler Tree Swallow Tricolored Heron Tropical Kingbird Trumpeter Swan Tufted Puffin Tufted Titmouse Tundra Swan Turkey Vulture Upland Sandpiper Varied Bunting Varied Thrush Vaux’s Swift Veery Verdin Vermilion Flycatcher Vesper Sparrow Violet-green Swallow Virginia Rail Virginia’s Warbler Warbling Vireo Western Bluebird Western Grebe Western Gull Western Kingbird Western Sandpiper Western Screech-Owl Western Tanager Western Wood-Pewee Western-Meadowlark Whimbrel White Ibis White-breasted Nuthatch White-crowned Pigeon White-crowned Sparrow White-eyed Vireo White-faced Ibis White-headed Woodpecker White-rumped Sandpiper White-tailed Hawk White-tailed Kite White-tailed Ptarmigan White-throated Sparrow White-throated Swift White-tipped Dove White-winged Crossbill White-winged Dove White-winged Scoter Whooping Crane Wild Turkey Willet Williamson’s Sapsucker Willow Flycatcher Willow Ptarmigan Wilson’s Phalarope Wilson’s Plover Wilson’s Snipe Wilson’s Warbler Winter Wren Wood Duck Wood Stork Wood Thrush Woodhouse’s Scrub-Jay Worm-eating Warbler Wrentit Yellow Rail Yellow Warbler Yellow-bellied Flycatcher Yellow-bellied Sapsucker Yellow-billed Cuckoo Yellow-billed Magpie Yellow-breasted Chat Yellow-crowned Night-Heron Yellow-headed Blackbird Yellow-rumped Warbler Yellow-throated Vireo Yellow-throated Warbler Zone-tailed Hawk

What Is Texas State Bird?

Northern Mockingbird is State Bird of Texas

The Texas State bird is the Mockingbird – one of the most plentiful birds in North America. They can be found in every state in the United States year-round and in parts of Mexico, Canada, and the Caribbean.

Texas is a south-central U.S. state whose terrain consists of sand hills, canyons, desert valleys, islands, desert grasslands, and wooded mountain slopes. The capital of the state is Austin. It’s a large state with a population of over 30 million people and ​​a 268,596 sq mile size.

Northern Mockingbirds visit backyards often. However, they don’t usually visit feeders. You can attract mockingbirds to your yard by keeping your lawn open while providing fruiting bushes or trees, including blackberry brambles, hawthorns, and mulberries.

History

The Northern Mockingbird became a state bird of Texas in 1927.

In 1920, the Texas Federation of Women’s Club proposed that the Mockingbird should be the Texas state bird.

This was an extremely popular nomination, and the Texas State legislature was all for this because they noted that the Northern Mockingbird is “found in all parts of the state, in winter and in summer, in the city and in the country, on the prairie and in the woods and hills, and is a fighter for the protection of his home, falling, if need be, in its defense, like any true Texan.”

Finally, in late January 1927, Governor Dan Moody approved this, and Texas became the first state ever to choose a state bird. Since then, Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Florida have also adopted the Northern Mockingbird as their official state bird.

Texas State Bird - Northern Mockingbird

Northern Mockingbirds inhabit areas that have open ground and shrubby vegetation like thickets, fruiting bushes, and hedges. Common places to find Northern Mockingbirds include cultivated land, parkland, second-growth habitat at lower elevations, and suburban areas.

These birds are abundant and easy to spot throughout much of North America. They love to perch in high places with little to no coverage, like utility poles, lines, and tall shrubs. You may even see them running or hopping around your yard.

 

Facts about The Texas State Bird

  • Mockingbirds almost vanished entirely from the east coast of the United States. This is because, in the 19th century, many people would keep mockingbirds in cages. People would trap adult Northern Mockingbirds and take nestlings out of nests. They would then sell the nestlings in major cities. Some of those cities include St. Louis, New York, and Philadelphia. In 1828, people could get as much as $50 per bird. For reference, that’s the equivalent of $1454.89 today.
  • Northern Mockingbirds are excellent at mimicking and singing. As a result, these birds will continue accumulating new sounds and add them to their collection throughout their lives. For example, a male may learn around 200 songs throughout his entire life.
  • Northern Mockingbirds usually sing in February to August. They’ll stop singing until September rolls around and sing again in early November. It’s been noted that male Northern Mockingbirds have a song for spring and another song for fall.
  • Female Northern Mockingbirds sing too! It’s common for people to think that it’s just the males. However, the females are usually much quieter. Female Northern Mockingbirds almost never sing in the summer. They’ll sing more in the fall; it’s theorized that this establishes a winter territory.

 

Identification

Northern Mockingbirds are grayish-brown overall, have two white wing bars on each wing, and are paler on the belly and breast. The white patches on the wings are usually the most visible when the birds are perched.

The patches become big white flashes when the Northern Mockingbirds are in flight. The outer tail feathers are also white and flash in flight.

Northern Mockingbirds are 8.3 to 10.2 inches (21 to 26 centimeters) long, weigh 1.6 to 2.0 ounces (45 to 58 grams), and have a wingspan of 12.2 to 13.8 inches (31 to 35 centimeters).

Northern Mockingbird

Female Northern Mockingbirds look identical to breeding male Northern Mockingbirds.  They’re the same size and length and have the same wingspan as males.

Juvenile Northern Mockingbirds look very similar to adult Northern Mockingbirds. However, they have spotted breasts instead of white breasts.

Calls

Both female and male Northern Mockingbirds sing. These birds are excellent mimics and can produce sounds of frogs and other birds around them, including hawks, shrikes, orioles, blackbirds, jays, and killdeer, to name a few.

Mockingbirds will continue to learn and make new sounds throughout their whole lives. The song they make is long and a series of phrases. Each phrase repeats up to 6 times before they’ll move to a new sound.

Their songs can go for more than 20 seconds! Many of these birds’ phrases are whistled, but Mockingbirds can also make trills, scolds, and sharp rasps.

Northern Mockingbirds make a dry, harsh hew or chew sound when mobbing any predators invading their nests or chasing other Northern Mockingbirds.

Mates will exchange a quieter version of this call during nestling and incubation periods or when the female has to leave the nest during the incubation process.

Mockingbirds also make a sequence of up to 8 scratchy; short chat calls to scare off intruders. Female Mockingbirds produce one single chat when distressed.

 

Behavior

Northern Mockingbirds are found either in pairs or alone throughout the entire year. These birds are easy to spot because they make themselves visible. These birds will sit and sing on top of poles, shrubs, utility lines, trees, and fences.

Northern Mockingbird in flight

Additionally, they hop, run, and walk along the ground with their tails cocked upwards. They’ll grab prey off the ground or snatch them from just over the grass.

The Northern Mockingbird is aggressive to other birds, pets, and sometimes humans throughout the year.

Female birds will chase off other female mockingbirds, while males square up to male intruders. Males that dispute territory boundaries will fly toward each other, land near the territory boundary, and face off.

They quietly hop from one side to the other. Eventually, one bird will retreat, and the other will chase it a small distance. If neither bird retreats, they’ll fly at each other, grappling with claws and wings while pecking at each other.

Mockingbirds have been known to mob dogs, cats, and other animals.

 

Frequently Asked Questions About New York State Bird

What is the state bird of Texas?

The state bird of Texas is the Northern Mockingbird.

Why is the Mockingbird the state bird of Texas?

The Mockingbird is the state bird of Texas because it is a well-known and beloved bird in the state. Known for its exceptional singing ability and its adaptability, the Mockingbird represents the independent spirit and diverse natural beauty of Texas.

When did Texas choose its state bird?

Texas designated the Mockingbird as its state bird in 1927.

What other states have the Mockingbird as their state bird?

In addition to Texas, the Mockingbird is also the state bird of four other states: Arkansas, Florida, Mississippi, and Tennessee.

See next: most common birds of Texas

About the Author

Brianna Goulet

Brianna loves to get outdoors for everything creative and fun. She has a passion for birds and is a hobbyist wildlife photographer based in Central Florida. Her goal is to share everything you need to know about birds so you can get out there, explore, and identify confidently!

Let others know your thoughts or ask an expert

Would you like to get new articles of birds (Once a month?)

No SPAM! We might only send you fresh updates once a month

Thank you for subscribing!

No thanks! I prefer to follow BirdZilla on Facebook