The Northern Mockingbird is the state bird of Texas, as well as Arkansas, Florida, Mississippi and Tennessee. It learns how to mimick other birds and trills a variety of calls during mating season to attract a mate, repeating each specific call several times and then moving on to the next song. This teenager is just now learning how to sing, and it's amusing to listen to its low, shy calls as it practices its technique. They sing all year long, and can sing all throughout the night. Several years ago, one mockingbird picked a tree right outside our bedroom window and delighted in keeping us up at all hours of the night with its songs! It is also known to mimick other sounds such as mechainical sounds, though I personally have never heard it. While visiting other states, I have looked all around to find the source of a new bird call I had never heard before, only to realize that it was a mockingbird singing the songs of other birds native to that particular area, and not the same bird calls mimicked here in my part of Texas. They are very particular during nesting season and aggressively defend their territory and nests. I have watched them dive bomb cats, dogs and squirrels, frequently hitting their mark squarely on the back, and causing the poor mammal to do a complete flip in the air and running all the faster for cover. It's not an easy task for a squirrel to run along a high line wire when being dive bombed by an angry mockingbird! As always, best zoomed in. Thank you for looking and for your kind comments on my recent posts.