NORTHERN MOCKINGBIRD
Mimus polyglottos
Description
The Northern Mockingbird, a medium-sized songbird, is dull gray above with paler underparts. The white outer tail feathers of the long tail and white wing patches are visible in flight.
Life History
The Northern Mockingbird is the most widely-known songbird in America. It is the state bird of Texas, but perhaps best known for its singing abilities. Not only can it perform 39 species' songs and 50 call notes, but it also can mimic sounds such as that of a barking dog, squeaky hinges, notes from a piano and even a cackling hen, so expertly that even an electronic analysis could not tell the difference between the mockingbird and the original.
Mockingbird nests can be found one to 50 feet above the ground in the fork of a tree or on the branch of a bush. The bulky cup is built by both sexes with items such as twigs, dry leaves, stems, cotton, paper, grass and other handy materials. Like many other songbirds, mockingbirds feed on fruits and insects.
Though territorial all year around, during the nesting season which falls between March and August, mockingbirds are especially aggressive. They regularly may attack starlings and grackles and even cats if they feel threatened. The female is the sole incubator of the three to six blue or green eggs that are blotched with brown. They hatch after an incubation period of 11 to 14 days and are then tended by both parents, although they are brooded only by the female. Thereafter, the young will leave the nest once they are 10 to 12 days old.
Habitat and Distribution
The Northern Mockingbird is distributed widely and it has extended its range much farther north in recent years. They range throughout North America from southern Canada south to Mexico. They even have been introduced and established in Hawaii. Mockingbirds live year-around across Texas where they frequent lawns and gardens in urban and rural environments, edges of open woods, farmland, streamside thickets and brushy deserts.
Texas Longhorn****State Large Mammal
"Anything less is all hat, and no cattle!"
Brief History of the Texas Longhorn
On his second voyage to the Americas in 1493, Christopher Columbus brought cattle with him. These cattle are thought to have been from the south of Spain, the Canary Islands and possibly Morocco. The cattle were quickly dispersed to all parts of the Americas with the rapid expansion of the Spanish empire. They spread into four regions that would eventually become part of the United States. These are Florida, California, Texas and Oklahoma. With very little human intervention, the cattle were essentially allowed to run wild, with nature selecting for an animal that could calve without assistance, fend off predators of all shapes and sizes, and utilize less than optimal forage. These cattle were molded by nature in the crucible of time, adapting to some of the harshest range conditions known in this country, and flourishing while doing so. This is the origin of the Texas Longhorn breed that was the backbone of the beef, tallow and hide industries of this land for centuries.
But the story does not end there. During the civil war the cattle were allowed to roam even more freely as all sense of order was lost during these difficult years. Following the war, many men made their living rounding up these massive herds of unclaimed, free roaming cattle, and driving them to northern railheads for shipment to the eastern United States where the demand for beef was growing at an ever increasing rate. This post Civil War roundup was also how some of the very large ranching operations in these regions got their start. With land in Texas going for 50 cents per acre, and cattle bringing a net profit of up to 20 dollars/head, there were healthy profits made, allowing these ranchers to purchase more land to support even greater cattle production.
Some of the more well known family owned ranches went to great lengths to preserve the genetic integrity of their hardy Texas Longhorn cattle. This became increasingly important as European breeds of cattle (Hereford, Angus, Devon, and Shorthorn), known for their massive muscling, were being imported to the United States and were fast becoming very popular because of their rapid rate of weight gain and overall size. What was happening was that the relatively small numbers of imported European bulls were being bred to vast numbers of Texas Longhorn cows. The tremendously distinct and hardy genetics possessed by the Texas Longhorn cattle became the basis of many cattle operations that were interested in "breeding up" through a planned inbreeding program directed at concentrating the "in vogue" European genetics. Or, the cattle rancher may have simply crossed his European bull with his Texas Longhorn cows to take advantage of "hybrid vigor' that occurs when two genetically diverse animals are bred, resulting in an animal that is often genetically and physically superior to its parents. In any event, the end result was the dilution of, and eventually near extinction of, this unique breed of cattle.
The United States government, in 1927, fearing extinction of an extremely important part of its cultural heritage, allocated $3,000 for the establishment of a government run herd of Texas Longhorn cattle. This purebred herd, along with herds established and maintained by some of the large cattle ranches of the time, became the founding seven families of Texas Longhorns. All possessed the incredible Texas Longhorn genetics, but all seven families were also genetically unique due to their physical and genetic isolation from one another.
In the 1960's there became a renewed interest in the Texas Longhorn, partially because people wanted to know about and relive a very important part of America's history, but also because of the "genetic gold mine" held within this breed that was of interest to modern day cattle ranchers. This renewed interest led to the establishment of a breed registry in 1964 in Lawton, Oklahoma, (Texas Longhorn Breeders Association of America - TLBAA) to maintain the records of, and ensure the continued genetic integrity of, the Texas Longhorn.
Most recently the emphasis has been on generating offspring with big, beautifully shaped horns, hides with tremendous color and pattern, and to a certain extent, increased muscling which results in a "smoothing out" of the animals. There are more markets today for Texas Longhorn cattle than at any time in its history, resulting in greater financial rewards for breeders. Today, Texas Longhorn cattle are in ever increasing demand. Their numbers are rapidly rising with the TLBAA breed registry showing one of the highest growth rates of all breeds. Back from the brink of extinct, the Texas Longhorn stands proudly poised for the new millennium.