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Bird

Mockingbird

(Mimus polyglottos)

Adopted in February 23, 1944.

The Women's Federated Clubs of Mississippi held a state bird campaign, selecting the mockingbird. A bill to designate the mockingbird Mississippi's official state bird was submitted in 1944.It passed the House 121-0, the Senate 38-0. The mockingbird was signed into law on February 23. Mockingbirds are gray with white patches on their wings. They grow to be about 11 inches long. Mockingbirds copy, or mock, the sounds and songs of other birds.

The Mimus polyglottos, as the mockingbird is known scientifically, is about ten inches in length, including its relatively long tail. It has a light gray coat and a whitish underside. Its wings and tail are darker gray with white patches. The male and females look alike. Juvenile has spotted breast.

The common mockingbird is a superb songbird and mimic. Its own song has a pleasant lilt, varied and repetitive. Often it will sing all night long, especially in bright springtime moonlight. Unmated male mockingbirds sing more than mated ones. Both sexes sing in the fall to claim winter feeding territories. These areas are often different than their spring breeding territories.

The song of the mockingbird is, in fact, a medley of the calls of many other birds, each repeated several times. It will imitate other species' songs and calls, squeaky gates, pianos, sirens, barking dogs, etc. Each imitation is repeated two or three times, then another song is started, all in rapid succession. In the above sample audio file, the songs of four distinct species were recorded in the span of about seven seconds. It is common for an individual bird to have as many as 25-30 songs in its repertory.

The mockingbird is also known as a fierce protector of its nest and environment. It is sometimes seen swooping down on a dog, cat or predator that may be venturing too close to the bird's protected territory.

Abundance: Common urban bird

Length: 10 inches

Weight: 1ž ounces

Wing Span: 14 inches

General description: Diurnal, omnivore, altricial

Sexual maturity : 1 year

Mating season: Spring and early summer. Mockingbirds usually nest twice a year sometimes 3 or 4 times when conditions are favorable.

Breeding territory: 1 pair per 20 acres

Gestation: Eggs hatch in 12-13 days, the young fledge 11-13 days after that.

Number of young: Eggs are blue-green with brown markings. The 2-6, usually 3-5, eggs per nest are a pale blue-greenish with brown spots.

Nest Location: Ground-low nesting

Nest Type: Open-cup The nest, a joint male/female project, is a bulky, open cup of grass, twigs and rootlets carelessly arranged in a dense.

Migration Status: Permanent resident. This year-round resident is known for its fierce defense of the family nest.

Diet: Mockingbirds require open grassy areas for their feeding, thick, thorny shrubs for hiding the nest and high perches where the male can sing and defend his territory. Gardens are among its favorite dwelling places especially if winter berries are available. The Mockingbird's primary diet is insects (beetles, ants, grasshoppers and spiders),berries and seed.

Facts:

Only unmated males sing at night.
Mockingbirds often form long-term pair bonds.
Mockingbirds vigorously defend their territory against many other species including dogs, cats and man!
Female mockingbirds often build a new nest while the males finish feeding older fledglings and teaching them to fly.
Scientists have found that female mockingbirds are attracted to males that can make the most different sounds.
Mockingbirds are the state bird of Arkansas, Florida, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Texas and one of the few birds found in every kind of habitat, from desert to forest to city.
Mockingbirds are thought to raise and lower their wings in order to scare up a meal of insects, frighten snakes and impress their mates.

Taxonomic Hierarchy
Kingdom	Animalia -- animals
Phylum	Chordata -- chordates
Subphylum	Vertebrata -- vertebrates
Class	Aves -- birds
Order	Passeriformes -- perching birds
Family	Sturnidae -- starlings
Genus	Mimus Boie, 1826 -- mockingbirds
Species	Mimus polyglottos (Linnaeus, 1758) -- Centzontle norteńo, northern mockingbird

State Flower

Flower by: Santalady State Flower, a state symbol

Magnolia

(Magnolia grandiflora)

Adopted on February 26, 1952.

Mississippi school children were allowed to vote for their state flower on November 28, 1900. The magnolia, cape jasmine, and yellow jasmine were favorites. In all, children voted for forty-two flowers. Out of 23,278 votes, the magnolia received 12,745. It was not made official by the legislature. In 1935, Mississippi's Director of Forestry started a state tree movement, again allowing school children to vote. The magnolia again won by a landslide. It was adopted on April 1, 1938. On February 26, 1952, the magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora) was finally officially adopted as Mississippi's state flower. Native to Asia, the magnolia was named for the great French botanist Pierre Magnol, who died in 1715.

Southern magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora), also called evergreen magnolia, bull-bay, big-laurel, or large-flower magnolia, has large fragrant white flowers and evergreen leaves that make it one of the most splendid of forest trees and a very popular ornamental that has been planted around the world. This moderately fast-growing medium-sized tree grows best on rich, moist, well-drained soils of the bottoms and low uplands of the Coastal Plains of Southeastern United States. It grows with other hardwoods and is marketed as magnolia lumber along with other magnolia species to make furniture, pallets, and veneer. Wildlife eat the seeds, and florists prize the leathery foliage.

Size: - 60 to 80 feet in height with a spread of about 30 to 50 feet. It develops into a large tree in southeastern Virginia, but in western Virginia its height may not exceed 20 feet due to occasional winter damage.
There are numerous cultivars, and there can be variation between seedlings. Grows at about a medium rate with a pyramidal habit. Generally branched to the ground and best left this way since growing anything under them is futile.

Leaf: Alternate, simple, pinnately veined and evergreen, 5 to 8 inches long, oval in shape with an entire margin. Very waxy/shiny above, and reddish tomentose below.

Flower: Southern magnolia has large, showy white flowers 6 to 8 inches wide with large white petals. Flower size ranges from extremely large blooms over 15 inches wide (Magnolia delavyii and Mag. grandiflora), to very small flowers less than 1 inch wide (Michellia figo). These have a pleasant fragrance and appear throughout the spring and summer. Fragrance can range from overpowering musty smells to sweet tropical fruit smells. Most evergreen members of the Magnoliaceae do have a distinct smell. The flowers open slowly as the large blossom needs time to develop. The center of the blossom is intricate and attractive as well. Flower color is basically an off white or cream color. Flowers are pure white, fragrant, but last only one day after opening. As flowers age they often develop a yellow cast to them. Yellow (often with green or purple undertones) flower color can be found in Michellia figo. Rare pink flowers can be found in Magnolia virginiana and Michellia affinis. A red flowered form of Magnolia delayvii has been reported. Flowers are borne singly in spring to early summer from May to June, but in general the trees do not begin blooming until their seventh year, once their growth rate has decreased (Odenwald and Turner, 1996).

Fruit: The fruits are reddish-brown conelike structures, 2-4 in (5-10 cm) long, with bright red kidney shaped seeds that hang from little threads when fully mature in autumn. Maturing October to November.

Twig: Stout, with white to rusty tomentum and a long (1 to 1 1/2 inches) silky white to rusty red terminal bud.

Bark: Brown to gray, thin, smooth/lenticellate when young, later with close plates or scales.

Form: A medium-sized tree with a pyramidal crown. When open grown, the crown is dense with low branches.

Taxonomic Hierarchy

Kingdom Plantae -- Plants

Subkingdom Tracheobionta -- Vascular plants

Superdivision   Spermatophyta -- Seed plants

     Division   Magnoliophyta -- Flowering plants

      Class   Magnoliopsida -- Dicotyledons

         Subclass Magnoliidae

            Order Magnoliales

               Family Magnoliaceae Magnolia family

                  Genus Magnolia L. magnolia

                   Species Magnolia grandiflora L. southern magnolia