Over the weekend of Feb. 13-15, I participated in the National Audubon Society’s Great Backyard Bird Count. It seemed like a pretty easy thing to do and the Web site was easy to follow. There were simple forms to keep track of the time and place I counted and every bird and bird species I saw.
From the lounge chair on the front porch I could see four bird feeders. It was legitimate to just count the birds at the feeders if you wanted to do that. This is the lazy way of birding but what the heck, I’m lazy. What surprised and delighted me from the deck chair comfort on the front porch was that summer breeding plumage is starting to show on some of the birds that visit the feeders. Usually the birds that migrate to the north of here are gone by the time they start changing from winter to summer raiment. This year, maybe because it’s been a colder winter than it has been for the last few years, the change is happening but the birds are still here. Lucky for us.
The American goldfinch is an olive drab little bird when we have it here in Central Texas for the winter. The males have a touch more gold than the females but neither gender is outstanding.

But in the spring, wow!
The males sparkle with vivid black with white wings. The rest of the body is brilliant, bright yellow with a black forehead. The females are just a little more colorful in summer than their winter coloration so it’s easy to tell the difference.
Another small bird that frequents the same feeders is the pine warbler. They have medium gray wings with two white wing bars. They have a yellow breast that is bright and lightly streaked with tan. White feathers on either side of the spread tail can be seen flashing in flight. During the winter, a pine warbler could be mistaken for an American goldfinch at first glance. But the goldfinch is a slender, elegant bird and the pine warbler is a chubby, baby cute bird. The goldfinch has the light colored, conical bill typical of finches and the pine warbler has the long, thin black bill of a warbler.
Both these species love black oil sunflower seeds. The pine warblers at our house have become peanut butter junkies and while I’m filling the peanut butter log feeder they fly close enough to snatch it out of the air.
Something special about the pine warbler is that, indicative of the name, they prefer pine forests. They spend their time in the eastern part of the United States and only as far west as the east Texas piney woods. Except for Bastrop County where they have, along with many others, discovered the beautiful Lost Pines and they bless us with tiny yellow flashes of color all year long.
Do yourself a favor and spend some time watching your feeders with a pair of binoculars. The American goldfinches are not in full color yet but you can see what they will look like because the wings are defined with black and white and patches of bright yellow are beginning to show in the olive drab body feathers. It’s a treat to see.

Northern Mockingbirds (Mimus polyglottos)
During one of the recent warm days I noticed a streak of white and grey land in a yaupon holly bush in my yard, out in the open. I could tell that it wasn’t one of the fat white-winged doves that are lolling around here now.
It was a mockingbird.
This would not be so unusual except that there have been very few visitations by mockingbirds here because these birds prefer open spaces and we are more wooded.
Northern mockingbirds are medium gray, slender birds with white wing bars. When they fly, flashing white wing patches and white feathers on either side of the tail can be seen. The birds are 10 inches long with a wingspan of 14 inches. Male and female are identical. These birds do not migrate but their range is spreading northward.
On Jan. 31, 1927 the Texas State legislature adopted a resolution unanimously declaring the northern mockingbird the state bird of Texas. Now every school child in Texas and almost every resident knows this fact and that it’s a sin and a crime to kill one.
The mockingbird is an excellent choice for the state bird of Texas because it is found in every one of the 254 counties in Texas. These birds have some of the fierce and funny qualities and musical talent Texans like to think they own.
The mockingbird is basically a southern bird that Florida, Arkansas, Tennessee and Mississippi also claim as their state bird.
The Latin name, Mimus refers to its ability to mimic and polyglottos, means “many tongues.” This is a really good scientific name for the bird that can imitate the song of dozens of other birds plus other animals and even machinery.
Sometimes it’s hard to tell the difference between the real thing and the imitation. The mockingbird gives itself away though by repeating a song or riff two or three times and then going on to the next one.
Listening to these birds sing is entertaining, not just for the beauty of the song but because for the really good singers – some are better than others and both sexes sing especially in the fall – it is like listening to a musician who is so full of himself and his talent that after he has tried out one melody several times he can’t wait to try the next one because it’s going to be so good.
Mockingbirds are too interesting and one column can’t do justice to them. Northern mockingbirds will be continued. In the meantime, spend some time watching the birds.