Fills Your Niche

Link to this photo on my Flickr profile. This morning two mockingbirds in the green field were spinning and tossing the white ribbons of their songs - Mary Oliver 1 If you have a backyard and you live in Nothern or Central America, you probably have at least one Northern Mockingbird ( Mimus polyglottos ) living nearby. They are the second most popular state bird in the United States, a symbol of Texas, Tennessee, Florida, Arkansas, and Alaska. 2 They are visually easy to identify; they have long tails they flick about and large white spots on the backs of their wings.  What's in a name? However, their family name, Mimidae, and even their genus and species name hints at a very different way to identify Mockingbirds. 3 Mimus ployglottus translates to "many-tongued mimic" in English. Listen for a long string of unrelated songs all woven together that resembles the songs of other birds in your neighborhood. If you have never heard one before,

The American Museum of Natural History in New York City is one of my all time favorite museums to visit! I remember going when I was a small girl with my Uncle Steve, a science teacher and big promotor of my then budding love of all things science. While I go a few times a year, this visit was for a trip to the Butterfly Conservatory . I wish I had my real camera with me, but my cell phone did a surprisingly decent job. So please enjoy a few photos and some descriptions of the species involved! Let me set the stage for you... When you walk into the balmy tent full of magic and light breezes produced by hundreds of butterfly wings, the first visual thing you notice is the incredible amount of color! There is gorgeous foliage everywhere, in various shades of green and then, of course, the butterflies. It's a little overwhelming at first as the stunning diversity hits you full in the face. Small black butterflies sit daintily on the leaves while large black and white striped but