To Kill a Mockingbird:  a remarkable novel and a unique bird.

'Your father's right,' she said. 'Mockingbirds don't do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don't eat up people's gardens, don't nest in corncribs, they don't do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That's why it's a sin to kill a mockingbird." Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird

Harper Lee wrote only one novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. This remarkable novel was about injustice, racism, and human dignity, among other things.  The novel compares two of the main characters to mockingbirds. Boo Radley is a mysterious man who makes gestures of affection to children, although he never appears personally, and an innocent black man, falsely accused of raping a young white woman.  Both can be seen as mockingbirds, a bird that doesn’t do anything wrong.

Mockingbirds belong to a group of new world birds from the family Mimidae. They are characterized by their melodious voice, or song, commonly heard in our backyards.  They are best known for the habit of mimicking the songs of other birds, insects and amphibians, in a loud and rapid succession.

A scientific name is a binomial system of nomenclature that is governed by international codes and is used by biologists worldwide. Scientific names are used to refer to animals and plants all over the world, no matter the language spoken. Usually, their scientific names are derived from their classic Latin or Greek origin.  Many of them originate from some characteristic that distinguishes the species.  This is the case of the Mockingbird, which scientific code or name is Mimus polyglottos, meaning “many-tongued mimic”.  Mimus from Greek, being “mimic” and polyglottos being “many tongued.”

Mockingbirds are species from the new world. Their distribution ranges from Canada to South America, West Indies included. A related species under the genus Nesomimus, which later merged into Mimus, is said to have been very influential in shaping Darwin theories on the origin of life.

In Puerto Rico, the species is very common as it is seen mainly in open fields, cities and our house gardens.  However, it is not a species that is normally observed in forests.  Along with the Great Kingbird (Tyrannous dominicenis), the mockingbird is probably one of the most popular and charismatic birds. Its melodic voice wakes us in the morning with its song.

José L. Chabert Llompart

 Wildlife Biologist