Birdsong for the
Curious Naturalist

49. Mockingbird calls at dusk and dawn.

7. When to Sing, and How
How birds go to roost and awake
From page 111 in the book.

Mockingbird calls at dusk and dawn. You will find plenty of dawn listening during the breeding season (see next two sections), so here's some good listening that you can try during those long months of the year when birds aren't breeding, when they are singing little, if at all, and are relatively quiet. One of my favorite dawn and dusk experiences is with the mockingbird, as it is so loud and intense at both dawn and dusk. Plus, they are abundant throughout the East and the South all the way to the Pacific. Begin walking among mockingbird territories around sunset, and continue until all is quiet, all the while mapping out places from which the mockingbirds call intensely. Then, well before sunrise, return to the same area and hear the same process in reverse when those mockingbirds awake, in much the same way they went to roost, growling harshly.