Advice on Mockingbird problem needed ASAP!

[Brutalful]

SUPER SOAKER WATER GUN

[Karen the KAT]

SUPER SOAKER WATER GUN

Great idea! It works on KATs real well.

LOL!

[Sooner4949]

I seem to remember mockingbirds divebombing my Grandmother's big gray tomcat in her backyard years ago and never thought much about it till now.

I apparently have two mockingbirds nesting in a wisteria in the middle of my front yard in northwest Florida. The last three days I've gotten divebombed just going within 10 feet of it to prune out dandelions and have had to warn my mail carrier as well to use my driveway. My neighbor across the street has a birdhouse in the crook of his tree and he spent the day today getting bombed while he was trying to refinish furniture in his driveway. He just ignored them but this is really getting annoying.

I will say that I AM a birdlover, and have a feeder in my backyard I'm always chasing the squirrels away from, and have loved the cardinals, jays, chickadees, brown thrashers, morning doves, woodpeckers, and finches it attracts, ( not to mention a house sparrow, bluebirds, and a "golden-rumped warbler"; somebody from Audubon probably got sued for that one, lol).

My problem is it's in the middle of my front yard, and the grass is beyond needing to be cut. My brother suggested a panama hat. Taking the cue from my neighbor seems like its best to just ignore them. But that flapflapflap in your ear as they go by can be a little unnerving, and I won't hear it over the lawnmower. Will these things nip somebody, or are they more bark than bite?

[oliviathunderkitty]

I have never heard of a mockingbird actually attacking anyone. They are simply trying to warn you to stay away from their nest. This behavior will end as soon as the youngster fledge, which should be quite soon. If you must mow your lawn before then, take your brother's advice and wear a brimmed hat.

... The last three days I've gotten divebombed just going within 10 feet of it to prune out dandelions and have had to warn my mail carrier as well to use my driveway....

[parlyvous]

Much ado over nothing. We humans, thinking this planet is ours and expecting other species to work around our agendas.

Short of a water buffalo charging through the kid's nursery, leave well enough alone.
The birds young will be flying away pretty soon. Grin and bear it.

Video the antics and put them on YouTube.

I recall as a child watching a mockingbird attack our cat and hitting her on the base of her tail and she ran hopping and jumping into our house. I loved that cat, but thought it was great that the parent bird was protecting it's young in a rather benign way...just the cat's dignity was hurt.

[CowGal]

That's cool about the cat. What does scare me is when hawks circle my chickens and dive bomb the half grown chicks. I have lost so many chickens to the hawks I feel like I need to give them an offering of a dead turkey (or maybe a dozen baby rats) before I open the door to the coup.

Much ado over nothing. We humans, thinking this planet is ours and expecting other species to work around our agendas.

Short of a water buffalo charging through the kid's nursery, leave well enough alone.
The birds young will be flying away pretty soon. Grin and bear it.

Video the antics and put them on YouTube.

I recall as a child watching a mockingbird attack our cat and hitting her on the base of her tail and she ran hopping and jumping into our house. I loved that cat, but thought it was great that the parent bird was protecting it's young in a rather benign way...just the cat's dignity was hurt.

[simonesimon]

I totally sympathsize.... "my" mocking bird has been coming back to the telephone pole outside my window for about 3 years now, oy, and at one point I thought I'd go completely mad. I got a long bamboo pole and tied a big, bright, pink feather duster to the end of it and chased it around til I dropped. It just flew to the next pole... and on and on. The blue jays help out sometimes and take over its perch, chasing it away. I am humbled. Good luck.

[nicofrog]

ok everybody is complaining about the noise.. I have a mockingbird that keeps attacking my cat and i dont know what to do about it. My cat cant even walk 5 feet without being divebombed any suggestons???

Put a bell on the mockingbird!

[parlyvous]

Put a bell on the mockingbird!

[sd gross]

The first recording I ever bought was "Bo Diddley". The second was a record I picked up at the Museum of Natural History book shop called "The Vocally Versatile Mockingbird". What a treat to be able to hear this amazing mimic spend 22 hours a day trying to attract a mate. How many humans can make the same claim? There was a professor at Sonoma State (Dr. Arnold) who's license plate spelled "MIMUS" in honor of mimus polyglottus. I think you should revel in being blessed with one of nature's auditory wonders and be happy you're not exposed to jackhammers, chainsaws, air brakes, and the overwhelmingly oppressive noise pollution created by we hominids.
Or you could get a pet McCaw or cockatoo and they'll drown out everything!

[parlyvous]

The first recording I ever bought was "Bo Diddley". The second was a record I picked up at the Museum of Natural History book shop called "The Vocally Versatile Mockingbird". What a treat to be able to hear this amazing mimic spend 22 hours a day trying to attract a mate. How many humans can make the same claim? There was a professor at Sonoma State (Dr. Arnold) who's license plate spelled "MIMUS" in honor of mimus polyglottus. I think you should revel in being blessed with one of nature's auditory wonders and be happy you're not exposed to jackhammers, chainsaws, air brakes, and the overwhelmingly oppressive noise pollution created by we hominids.
Or you could get a pet McCaw or cockatoo and they'll drown out everything!

You won't find me complaining about any other species vocalizing. I wasn't complaining I was amused at the thought of belling the bird..good luck!

I live very rurally and cherish every sound and vision.

[dominus]

When I read Rachel Carson's book "Silent Spring," it changed the way I view all of nature. Admittedly, Mockingbird's are highly vocal but I think quite wonderful in their own way. Why not accept them as a vital part of the ecological web of which we are all a part of and make some peace with them? They have a right to be here and to live their lives as each of us has.

[anne_hatfield]

For the last three years we've had a "vicious" mockingbird in our backyard - it would attack one of the feral cats, but not the other - they are nearly identical tabbys, but the bird could tell which one was the hunter. However, this year is different - we're blessed with a virtuoso mockingbird that sings its heart out all day long and most of the night - and ignores both cats - and us! It was worth the wait and hassle. May future years bring such song to everyone...

[killer522]

Haven't slept well in more than six days and I found that a Daisey pellet gun model 2730 works the best. Not only did it solve the annoying singing at all hours of the night but it prevented anyone else from having the same problem, from at least the same bird. Unless this birds name was Lazarus :) LOL

Don't get me wrong, I love birds, medium well.

[killer522]

Haven't slept well in more than six days and I found that a Daisey pellet gun model 2730 works the best. Not only did it solve the annoying singing at all hours of the night but it prevented anyone else from having the same problem, from at least the same bird. Unless this birds name was Lazarus :) LOL

Don't get me wrong, I love birds, medium well.

Oh yeah about 7 or 8 pumps should finish him off. Don't try to scare the bird it just makes it worse. These birds seem to understand who their enemies are on site so if you don't want to be attacked by one just finish him off the first time. Pluck em and crock pot them for at least four hours o medium is the best way to show you care about the environment. No Haste No Waste!

[mitzkity]

It's a very confusing story, where the dog brought in 2 mockinbirds, one at a time, and I can't find the second one THAT WAS CRAWLING WITH BUGS!!!

At one point I picked it up before I saw them, and a zillion bugs went up my arm - I felt them more than saw them.

I DROPPED IT on the rug - and ran to get a sheet to cover it with to get it to the garbage... when I got back the bird was gone! I don't know where it went...thought it might be hidden in the folds of the sheet I dropped it on?

I washed and dried the sheet - no baby bird.
I was itching all over, so showered, my dog is on Revolution, and doesn't seem to be itching, but I still am.

Where is that bird? Newborn, almost dead in my puppy's mouth - gone??

What about the rug? Me? Don't know what to do!

[mitzkity]

I see this thread is very dead, but just had to comment. I am an animal lover, believe me, and have always liked it when birds build nests in my trees. But this mockingbird has come back year after year and built terrible nests that fall out of the tree, my cats and dogs worry the dead babies, or eat the eggs, and sometimes they make it to almost be able to fly and take cover in my tomato plants. It's sickening and heartbreaking, but I can't help them. I tried to put one back in the nest one day and the daddy dive-bombed me in the back - hurt so bad I cried.

Same tree every year, always dismal failures. I hate them - hate what I have to deal with, and this time, my puppy brought the dead babies in the house and one was covered with bugs that I didn't see until they were all over my hand, running up my arm. It's just horrible, and now I can't find the one that was buggy - they are so small you can only see them teeming in the thousands all over things.

Don't know what to do, every year it seems to get worse.

[onthewing]

You really "hate" these birds that are only doing what they have been programmed to do for thousands of years? You really have to get a grip if the worst thing that happens to you on a given day is your domestic animals bringing in a dead wild creature that has icky-icky bugs on it. This place is rural. These birds have as much right to be here as you. If your cats are killing birds, keep them inside. Maybe you have too many cats and dogs. Be a good neighbor to the wild animals to offset the effects of your own animal ownership.

I hate them - hate what I have to deal with...

[oliviathunderkitty]

Reading between the lines, so to speak, it seems to me that you don't hate these birds. You hate what happens and you hate how that makes you feel. I can understand that.

My first thought is about the tree. Once the mockingbirds leave, is it possible for you to trim it or have someone trim the tree in such a way that the birds will be more successful the next time around? Perhaps you can talk to someone at Wild Birds Unlimited about what they might need as far as nesting help goes. A platform? A house? Successful management of this problem could go a long way towards alleviating your discomfort.

I have mockingbirds that return every spring and I adore them. They serenade me, I watch their mating dance in early spring, I watch one of the partners keeping other animals away while the eggs and then the nestlings do their natural thing. I'm sad when they go. Of all the beautiful birds and other creatures that make this place above Atascadero Creek their home, the mockingbirds are my favorite. I hope someday you can understand and maybe even share my pleasure, just as I can understand your horror at seeing dead baby birds.

But this mockingbird has come back year after year and built terrible nests that fall out of the tree,

[mamaj]

Quit freaking out totally and call Bird rescue -NOW!

[Glia]

Is it possible to trim the tree to make it not supportive of nesting activity, and the birds will set up shop somewhere else?

... Once the mockingbirds leave, is it possible for you to trim [the tree] or have someone trim the tree in such a way that the birds will be more successful the next time around? ...

[mitzkity]

Please forgive me, we live in a Resort area (Disneyland) and our newspapers are always full of horror stories about getting rid of bedbugs. I love my 2 dogs and 2 cats and our 11 chickens AND the birds, squirrels and even the rats that run along our wires. But yesterday I was so scared - "bird flu" and "west Nile" etc - and then I was scouring the internet. Finally hubby and I determined that they need a host to breed, and they can't live long off of the host. He located the nest which was overcome with mites, and bagged it, sprayed the tree. I'm fine.

As for the Mockingbirds, I do admire their faithfulness to my lime tree, year after year. I have never, however, heard one sing. They only go "ACK!" and that's all. And they are nowhere as pretty as our hummingbirds.

Since we all have to co-exist, I will do some planning, and we'll build a platform (with edges), to go around the trunk, above the plants, to catch the falling birdies. After that we'll let Mother Nature take over. The errant pup who brought it in, well, he's a puppy, and we've been here 21 yrs without this particular "disaster" occurring, I think we're safe.

Thanks for listening and suggestions too, and yes, I stopped freaking out.

[mitzkity]

This is the only one who managed to leave the tree. Luckily, the tomatoes plants are huge and thick this year. This is a Facebook post - we call our house "Ferrari Farms" just for fun.

[Claire]

Bird Drama!

Especially at nesting time. We have scrub jays that hate the mockingbirds and vice versa. Such melodrama. They can't even share a yard without major conflict from both sides, shrieking and chasing.

I like the mockingbirds even when they sing in the middle of the night IF it's a few lots over. Right outside the window, it's a little rough.

Although they nest in our fine-branched Pittosporum hedge, which is perfect for them, we still get the drama. I feel sorry that their evolution is such that the babies are in such peril. The nest is a loose-weave basket that if placed in just the right branches will hold the babies until they leave, which is WAY too early, imho. They then spend the next few weeks hopping from branch to branch in their nesting tree, sending out a shrill BEEP every minute or so, incessantly proclaiming their whereabouts to any and all predators. There's nothing subtle about the mockingbird, even as a baby.

They cannot fly, they will not stay in the nest. They will not hide and very often they land too low to the ground and stay there. If the parents have chosen poorly the nesting sight, the clutch will often end in disaster.

I love our birds. My birdbath is a constant source of amusement and they love the nut butter we buy for them, but seriously, the drama we get around here is over the top.

[lisajean]

Really!!!!! Killing of a cat would be justified???? What an absolute jerk!!! My outdoor cats keep getting dive bombed by these pests. We have zero scape landscape so there is no trees or bushes for these birds to nest in. My cats stay on my property and do not deserve to be attacked. Also the mockingbirds that are here do not "sing" they screech. These birds are nothing but an annoyance.

Parent birds do that to protect their young. It seems pretty admirable to me. I'm sure your cat will survive. In fact, I have never seen a cat killed by any songbird, despite the fact that such killing would be completely justified.

[Fillie]

water balloons
firecrackers
falcons

Really!!!!! Killing of a cat would be justified???? What an absolute jerk!!! My outdoor cats keep getting dive bombed by these pests. We have zero scape landscape so there is no trees or bushes for these birds to nest in. My cats stay on my property and do not deserve to be attacked. Also the mockingbirds that are here do not "sing" they screech. These birds are nothing but an annoyance.

[Karen the KAT]

Just admit the mockingbirds have a human problem or get a pellet gun, there really isn't a third option...

[juna]

A friend recommended a water squirt gun. Never actually squirted water on the terrorizing birds yet kept them away.

Just admit the mockingbirds have a human problem or get a pellet gun, there really isn't a third option...

[Karen the KAT]

I guess those particular birds have had dealings with the Sebastopol PD... :)

[SeekMocha]

Although mockingbirds can have beautiful, enjoyable songs, we have two pairs on our property who, from sunup to sundown engage in territorial disputes featuring a loud, nasty, annoying guttural squawk. Constantly, all day long. I would love to find a way to get at least one of these pairs to move elsewhere. To be clear, the nesting season is long past and the fledglings left the nest at least 6 weeks ago, so it's not nest protection behavior.

I'm going to try the magnets idea and the fake owl idea, can't get close enough for water jet. Pellet gun is also on the list of deterrents, if all else fails.