Mimidae Succession

     Recently a lady told me she no longer has mockingbirds in her suburban yard, but she does have catbirds on that same lawn.  That statement made me think of the succession of mimidae, which would spread those related kinds of birds into different habitats, reducing competition for space and food among the species. 
     Mimidae in eastern North America include northern mockingbirds, gray catbirds and brown thrashers.  These adaptable, common and cardinal-sized birds are all built much the same, showing their common ancestry.  They all live, nest and are camouflaged in the sheltering thickets of shrubs and vines along the edges of woods.  And, although each kind of mimidae has its own beautiful songs, mockingbirds and catbirds also mimic sounds they hear, including the songs of other types of birds, which gives them their family name.  Sometimes we think there is a host of birds of different kinds singing in a yard, but, in reality, it is only a mocker or a catbird.
     All mimidae eat a variety of invertebrates during warmer months, but consume berries mostly in winter.  They control the numbers of insects, and spread certain plants across the countryside by ingesting berries, digesting their pulp, but passing their seeds in droppings as they move about from place to place.
     Northern mockingbirds are mostly light-gray with white markings on their wings and tails.  They are southern birds, some individuals of which pushed north during the early 1950's, and have stayed north to the present day.  Mockers are permanent residents, which means they don't migrate.  And although some of them still live in the thickets of woodland edges, others are some of the first birds to live and nest among the planted shrubbery of newer suburban areas.  Of course, those bushes are small when first planted, but mockers soon inhabit a suburb as the shrubbery gets a bit older and bigger.  But as the suburban shrubbery gets still older and bigger, many mockingbirds seem to lose interest in that human-made habitat.  But catbirds become more interested in that same changing habitat, sometimes replacing their cousins, the mockers.
     Catbirds are gray all over with a darker cap.  They prefer to nest in larger patches of shrubbery along woodland edges, and in older suburban areas where the planted bushes had time to get bigger, and where catbirds, to some extent, replace their mockingbird cousins. 
     Catbirds are skulkers in the dark shadows of shrubbery and more often heard than seen.  They are particularly characterized by their meowing call that does sound like that of a cat, hence their name.  But their lovely songs coming from thickets at dusk are probably the best part of their existence to us.
     Brown thrashers are the least likely of eastern mimidae to inhabit suburban areas, but some pairs of them do nest in some of the older ones, but not nearly as commonly as mockers and catbirds.  This thrasher species is warm-brown on top and white below with rows of dark spots on the white.  They have their own lovely songs, but are not likely to imitate sounds they hear.  However, thrashers are a bit bigger than mockers and catbirds.  And thrashers seem to be able to run stronger and faster than their relatives.  I sometimes think, in time, they could become road-runner-like.  Road runners are able to run fast after invertebrate and small lizard prey.
     Mimidae are an adaptable, common and interesting group of medium-sized birds.  They have lovely songs, and two kinds of them mimic sounds they hear.  But maybe, most interestingly to us, they have adapted to living and nesting in suburban areas where their songs and actions are most appreciated.