Our property is home to several breeding pairs of northern mockingbirds (as well as many of their cousins, the brown thrashers and gray catbirds). They’ve all become pretty bold around both us and the dogs, strutting through the yard, flashing their wings the whole time. The juveniles wing-flash as much if not more than the adults, maybe to keep the parents abreast of their location when they’re out in the open. Ornithologists have yet to determine why exactly mockingbirds do this, and theories abound that haven’t been fully confirmed. Maybe it’s multipurpose—alerting others of their location, shooing up bugs, intimidating potential predators, etc. This photo confirms, however, that the wing flash is a pretty good stretch first thing in the morning.
