Chalk-browed Mockingbird (Mimus saturninus)

The omnivorous diet of the chalk-browed mockingbird consists of various insects, spiders, worms, fruit, seeds and berries, and occasionally the eggs and nestlings of other birds (2). Although this mockingbird forages mainly on the ground, it will regularly perch in low bushes or trees, especially during the breeding season when the males spend long periods singing (4). Breeding occurs from September to January with each monogamous pair often accompanied by several helpers that assist with territorial defence, nest-guarding and feeding of young. A clutch of three to four eggs is laid in a small, loosely constructed nest and incubated for 12 to 15 days. After hatching the young are confined to the nest for another 12 to 15 days, and are fed by the parents for around a week after fledging. The juveniles then remain in their parental territory through the non-breeding season and potentially as helpers over the subsequent breeding season (2). The nests of the chalk-browed mockingbird are commonly parasitized by shiny cowbirds which lay their own eggs in the nests of the mockingbirds (2) (5). This typically results in the mockingbird unwittingly incubating the eggs of the shiny cowbird and rearing its young, often to the detriment of its own (5) (6).

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