Friday, May 4, 2012

Northern Mockingbirds with no tails

A Northern Mockingbird without a tail, Riparian Preserve, Gilbert, AZ; 12/26/2011.
Last winter was the second time that I saw a Mockingbird without a tail (Above). This time a Northern Mockingbird at the Riparian Preserve at Water Ranch in Gilbert, AZ. The first time I saw a tailless Mockingbird (a Tropical Mockingbird, I believe) was at a boat marina near Cancun, Mexico, in December of 2010.  (See my blog post http://northernillinoisbirder.blogspot.com/2011/01/tropical-mockingbird-northern.html ).
A nice rear view of no tail on this N. Mockingbird, Riparian Preserve, Gilbert, AZ; 12/26/2011.
I also had an anonymous reader, Marie, from the East Coast send me the following message on March 22, 2011:
     Anonymous said...
"You are the only one that talks about a tailless mockingbird. The past 3 days, we have had one feeding at our feeder. My picture is poor, due to lack of telephoto lens, but I am curious if this bird is just passing by or will stay for the season. We are in the tristate area of Delaware, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. Marie "

I know that these three incidents are probably purely coincidental, but it's fun to make some wild conjectures:
          1. There is a species of Mockingbirds that have no tails, that no one in the ornithological world
               has acknowledged.
          2. The N. Mockingbird that I saw last December, is the same one that Marie saw on the
              East Coast in March of 2011, and perhaps the same one I saw in Mexico but misidentified it
              as a tropical Mockingbird.
          3. All Mockingbirds go through a phase in which they lose their tail feathers and they regrow.
         
Well, as it turns out, I am not the only person who has mentioned tailless Mockingbirds. Below are links to other sites I've located on the Internet that either refer to Mockingbirds without tails and/or have photos:
http://nature.gardenweb.com/forums/load/bird/msg0717252417284.html?16

http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2415289540011412446ApDSyP

http://www.idigmygarden.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-19790.html (Read 4th entry down)

http://forums.photographyreview.com/nature-wildlife/extremely-rare-tail-less-variant-agelaius-phoeniceus-56102.html (Scroll down to the 6th entry)

http://www.freelists.org/post/birdky/tailless-Mockingbird

A Northern Mockingbird with its tail intact, Phoenix, AZ; 12/25/2009.
A more likely scenario about why Mockingbirds lose their tails could be, because Mockingbirds are bolder and more curious than the average bird and their tails are long (Above) compared to their shorter wings that...
     1.  it is easier for their tails to get caught in something and the feathers get pulled out ...
     2.  or get caught by a predator (a house cat or fox, etc.) which grabs a hold of the tail,
         but the bird escapes leaving its tail behind (no pun intended).
Other causes could be ...
     3. genetic in nature, where some key ingredient of the DNA is missing that causes a bird to be
         hatched without a tail ( I am no scientist, so I don't know if I even stated that correctly),
     4. or from some sort of parasite that infested the nest while the bird was being fledged.

Have fun with your own theories.

14 comments:

Daisy Deems said...

I currently have one in my yard. I thought it was a juvenile

Trish @TheOldPostRoad said...

I have a mockingbird in my yard this season with only white tail feathers. The middle gray long one is completely gone. The two white sides remain and sort of look like a forked tail. he flies just fine! I see him constantly! Am guessing a cat grabbed it or perhaps he was born that way (since it doesn't seem to affect his flight!)

Anonymous said...

I have noticed for several days that 2 or 3 mockingbirds have been chasing each other through the trees and shrubs rather vigorously all the while "thacking". They will keep this up for quite a few minutes. I'm wondering if this "fighting" is the cause of some in my yard to be tailless!

Anonymous said...

In the Nashville, TN area. Have an adult mockingbird (too big and wrong time of year for fledgling) that has no tail. Seems to get around just fine.

Anonymous said...

I just spotted a tailless Mockingbird outside my office window. It was very close, and groomed in one spot for about a minute, so I got a very good look. Looked very odd, but seemed to fly just fine without the typical long tail feathers.

It just returned, and I got another good look. The fluffy feathers on the head and chest maybe indicate it is a juvenile?

Location: Winchester, Tennessee

Date/Time: 8/14/2018, 2:50 PM

Anonymous said...

I am from west Texas. I have 4 mocking birds in our yard same family but lost one 2 weeks ago due to old age I guess. What' s amazing about them is that they can be trained. Sometime 15 years ago I trained the oldest one by alluring to eat grapes & finally each time I call it with my own whistle it comes to the tree so when I throw 1 grape it's eating it until finally it will hang in our bedroom window anyrime of the day or by our back patio door asking grapes when it sees us! It's a female then a male partner came & they have been together for yaars then had 2 babies.so now I have to feed all of them which I find it so interesting that they do learn about something what people can do for them! I made them rotten because I love them!😊🙂

Uncle Steve said...

I have had a short tailed mockingbird on my suet feeder for the last week. Don't know if it is a juvenile or just lost it's feathers somehow.
My mockingbirds follow me around wheen I walk or am working on my property in spring and summer. They get quite close and seem unafraid. I think it is because I stir up insects.

Unknown said...


We have a mockingbird that lost it's tail and were wondering if it was okay. Glad I found this thread to help clear up our concerns.

Sandy and Bob, bird lovers.

Deb said...

I also am so happy to have found this thread. I am in Kentucky and the past 2 days I have had a bird with no long tail and Google has identified it as a Mockingbird but I thought it couldn’t be because of the tail. Thanks to all my bird lovers to have found the answer. And thank you to the person telling of feeding it grapes. I love that.

Deb, a fellow bird lover:)

Anonymous said...

I have had one in my yard/neighborhood in Vallejo, California since this Spring. Its calls/ song seem less varied, not so pretty as the other mocking birds nearby. More of a squawk than melodious run of songs. That boogers is rather dear to my heart. Sort of a miraculous thing.

Anonymous said...

The word "boogers" in my original comment was meant to read "bird"

Anonymous said...

We have mockingbirds that live in our yard. Every morning I go outside and make a little call noise and leave mealworms on our wall. After a couple weeks or so, they bbegan began flynug

Anonymous said...

Down to within about 10 feet of me to look at me and wait for the worms. The smaller one is particularly close and makes eye contact for some time. She lost her tail,

Anonymous said...

And it grew back over about 5 weeks. Surprising how well she flew without it.