Bird
Northern Mockingbird
Mimus polyglottos
Lives in Virginia all year and nests here. Found in all 133 counties and cities, across 24 habitats.
- Here
- All year
- Nesting
- Nests here
- Range
- All 133 counties and cities
- Habitats
- 24

At a glance
- Group
- Birds
- Here
- All year
- Nesting
- Nests here
- Range
- All 133 counties and cities
- Habitats
- 24
- Habitat models
- Year-round
Where it lives
The places its habitat model includes. It is not found everywhere a habitat occurs.
Habitats in Virginia 24
Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.

Granite and other acidic rock outcrops




Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground

Streams, rivers and their banks


Open sand of beaches, dunes and the hollows between them.
Forests and open woodlands on dry ridges and slopes, often oak or pine.
Floodplain and bottomland forests
Forests on low ground beside rivers and streams that flood from time to time.
Marshes along tidal rivers where the water is fresh but rises and falls with the tide.
Glades, barrens and outcrops on limestone
Open, thin-soil openings and rock on limestone, dolomite or other lime-rich rock, including cedar glades.
Flat, poorly drained uplands and terraces with oaks, sweetgum and sometimes loblolly pine, wet in winter and dry in summer, but neither a floodplain nor a swamp.
Salt-pruned forests and shrub thickets behind coastal dunes.
Forests between dry and moist, often oak-hickory on slopes.
Treeless grassy or shrubby summits and ridges in the high mountains.
Wet, open, peaty mountain wetlands fed by seepage, often with sphagnum moss.
High mountain forests of beech, yellow birch and sugar maple, including boulderfield forests.
Flat, sandy Coastal Plain pine woodlands, wetter than sandhills and denser than savannas.
Open, fire-kept longleaf pine stands over grasses and wildflowers on wet to moist sandy soil.
Dense evergreen shrub wetlands and bay forests on wet, acid peat of the Coastal Plain.
Steep, sun-baked slopes of loose shale with sparse oaks and Virginia pine and their own endemic wildflowers. Linked only where the source names shale barrens; calcareous shale stays with the limestone glades.
Tree plantations and managed pine
Planted or intensively managed stands of pine or hardwoods grown for timber; a land use rather than a natural community.
Other habitats in its models (173)
Land cover, or classes with no habitat page in Virginia. Those recorded in Virginia first, the rest by region.
In Virginia 2
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland Year-round.
- Southern Piedmont Glade and Barrens Year-round.
Elsewhere in the South (96)
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Central Fresh-Oligohaline Tidal Marsh Year-round.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Small Blackwater River Floodplain Forest Year-round.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Dune and Maritime Grassland Year-round.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Maritime Forest Year-round.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Wet Pine Savanna and Flatwoods Year-round.
- Central and South Texas Coastal Fringe Forest and Woodland Year-round.
- Central and Upper Texas Coast Dune and Coastal Grassland Year-round.
- Central Florida Herbaceous Pondshore Year-round.
- Central Florida Pine Flatwoods Year-round.
- Central Interior Highlands Calcareous Glade and Barrens Year-round.
- Central Interior Highlands Dry Acidic Glade and Barrens Year-round.
- Crosstimbers Oak Forest and Woodland Year-round.
- Cumberland Riverscour Year-round.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Dune and Coastal Grassland Year-round.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Limestone Forest Year-round.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Maritime Forest Year-round.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Pine Flatwoods Year-round.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Dry Upland Hardwood Forest Year-round.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Loess Bluff Forest Year-round.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Mesic Hardwood Forest Year-round.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Savanna and Wet Prairie Year-round.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Small Stream and River Floodplain Forest Year-round.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Loblolly-Hardwood Flatwoods Year-round.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Loess Bluff Forest Year-round.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Mesic Slope Forest Year-round.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Tidal Wooded Swamp Year-round.
- East-Central Texas Plains Pine Forest and Woodland Year-round.
- East-Central Texas Plains Post Oak Savanna and Woodland Year-round.
- East-Central Texas Plains Riparian Forest Year-round.
- Edwards Plateau Limestone Savanna and Woodland Year-round.
- Florida Dry Prairie Year-round.
- Florida Panhandle Beach Vegetation Year-round.
- Florida Peninsula Inland Scrub Year-round.
- Lower Mississippi River Dune Woodland and Forest Year-round.
- Lower Mississippi River Flatwoods Year-round.
- Mississippi Delta Maritime Forest Year-round.
- Mississippi River Alluvial Plain Dry-Mesic Loess Slope Forest Year-round.
- Mississippi River Bottomland Depression Year-round.
- Mississippi River Low Floodplain (Bottomland) Forest Year-round.
- Mississippi River Riparian Forest Year-round.
- Nashville Basin Limestone Glade Year-round.
- Northern Crowley's Ridge Sand Forest Year-round.
- Ouachita Montane Oak Forest Year-round.
- Ozark-Ouachita Dry Oak Woodland Year-round.
- Ozark-Ouachita Dry-Mesic Oak Forest Year-round.
- Ozark-Ouachita Mesic Hardwood Forest Year-round.
- Ozark-Ouachita Riparian Year-round.
- Ozark-Ouachita Shortleaf Pine-Bluestem Woodland Year-round.
- Ozark-Ouachita Shortleaf Pine-Oak Forest and Woodland Year-round.
- Red River Large Floodplain Forest Year-round.
- South Florida Bayhead Swamp Year-round.
- South Florida Cypress Dome Year-round.
- South Florida Dwarf Cypress Savanna Year-round.
- South Florida Hardwood Hammock Year-round.
- South Florida Pine Flatwoods Year-round.
- South Florida Pine Rockland Year-round.
- South Florida Wet Marl Prairie Year-round.
- South-Central Interior / Upper Coastal Plain Flatwoods Year-round.
- South-Central Interior / Upper Coastal Plain Wet Flatwoods Year-round.
- Southeast Florida Coastal Strand and Maritime Hammock Year-round.
- Southeastern Great Plains Tallgrass Prairie Year-round.
- Southeastern Interior Longleaf Pine Woodland Year-round.
- Southern Blackland Tallgrass Prairie Year-round.
- Southern Coastal Plain Blackwater River Floodplain Forest Year-round.
- Southern Coastal Plain Dry Upland Hardwood Forest Year-round.
- Southern Coastal Plain Herbaceous Seepage Bog Year-round.
- Southern Coastal Plain Hydric Hammock Year-round.
- Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp Year-round.
- Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Cypress Dome Year-round.
- Southern Coastal Plain Oak Dome and Hammock Year-round.
- Southern Coastal Plain Seepage Swamp and Baygall Year-round.
- Southern Crowley's Ridge Mesic Loess Slope Forest Year-round.
- Southern Interior Low Plateau Dry-Mesic Oak Forest Year-round.
- Southwest Florida Coastal Strand and Maritime Hammock Year-round.
- Southwest Florida Dune and Coastal Grassland Year-round.
- Tamaulipan Calcareous Thornscrub Year-round.
- Tamaulipan Mixed Deciduous Thornscrub Year-round.
- Texas Saline Coastal Prairie Year-round.
- Texas-Louisiana Coastal Prairie Year-round.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Catahoula Barrens Year-round.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Chenier and Upper Texas Coastal Fringe Forest and Woodland Year-round.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Large River Floodplain Forest Year-round.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Mesic Hardwood Forest Year-round.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Large River Swamp Year-round.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Nepheline Syenite Glade Year-round.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Nonriverine Wet Hardwood Flatwoods Year-round.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Calcareous Prairie Year-round.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Pine-Hardwood Flatwoods Year-round.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Pine-Hardwood Forest Year-round.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Sandhill Oak and Shortleaf Pine Forest and Woodland Year-round.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Seepage Swamp and Baygall Year-round.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Small Stream and River Forest Year-round.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Calcareous Prairie Year-round.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Upland Longleaf Pine Forest and Woodland Year-round.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Wet Longleaf Pine Savanna and Flatwoods Year-round.
- Western Great Plains Mesquite Woodland and Shrubland Year-round.
Northeast (3)
- Central Appalachian Alkaline Glade and Woodland Year-round.
- North-Central Interior Wet Flatwoods Year-round.
- Northeastern Interior Pine Barrens Year-round.
Midwest (10)
- Central Mixedgrass Prairie Year-round.
- Central Tallgrass Prairie Year-round.
- North-Central Interior Beech-Maple Forest Year-round.
- North-Central Interior Dry Oak Forest and Woodland Year-round.
- North-Central Interior Dry-Mesic Oak Forest and Woodland Year-round.
- North-Central Interior Maple-Basswood Forest Year-round.
- North-Central Interior Oak Savanna Year-round.
- North-Central Interior Sand and Gravel Tallgrass Prairie Year-round.
- North-Central Oak Barrens Year-round.
- Western Great Plains Wooded Draw and Ravine Year-round.
Land cover and other classes (62)
- Allegheny-Cumberland Dry Oak Forest and Woodland - Pine Modifier Year-round.
- Arkansas Valley Prairie and Woodland Year-round.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Clay-Based Carolina Bay Forested Wetland Year-round.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Fall-Line Sandhills Longleaf Pine Woodland - Loblolly Modifier Year-round.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Fall-line Sandhills Longleaf Pine Woodland - Offsite Hardwood Modifier Year-round.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Fall-line Sandhills Longleaf Pine Woodland - Open Understory Modifier Year-round.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Fall-line Sandhills Longleaf Pine Woodland - Scrub/Shrub Understory Modifier Year-round.
- Developed, High Intensity Year-round.
- Developed, Low Intensity Year-round.
- Developed, Medium Intensity Year-round.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Black Belt Calcareous Prairie and Woodland - Herbaceous Modifier Year-round.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Black Belt Calcareous Prairie and Woodland - Woodland Modifier Year-round.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Shortleaf Pine-Oak Forest - Hardwood Modifier Year-round.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Shortleaf Pine-Oak Forest - Mixed Modifier Year-round.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland - Loblolly Modifier Year-round.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland - Offsite Hardwood Modifier Year-round.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland - Open Understory Modifier Year-round.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland - Scrub/Shrub Modifier Year-round.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Jackson Plain Dry Flatwoods - Open Understory Modifier Year-round.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Jackson Prairie and Woodland Year-round.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Large River Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier Year-round.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Large River Floodplain Forest - Herbaceous Modifier Year-round.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Pine Flatwoods - Offsite Hardwood Modifier Year-round.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Pine Flatwoods - Open Understory Modifier Year-round.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Pine Flatwoods - Scrub/Shrub Understory Modifier Year-round.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Dry Upland Hardwood Forest - Offsite Pine Modifier Year-round.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Loess Plain Oak-Hickory Upland - Hardwood Modifier Year-round.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Loess Plain Oak-Hickory Upland - Juniper Modifier Year-round.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Depression Pondshore Year-round.
- Eastern Great Plains Floodplain Systems Year-round.
- Eastern Great Plains Wet Meadow, Prairie, and Marsh Year-round.
- Eastern Highland Rim Prairie and Barrens - Dry Modifier Year-round.
- Florida Longleaf Pine Sandhill - Open Understory Modifier Year-round.
- Florida Longleaf Pine Sandhill - Scrub/Shrub Understory Modifier Year-round.
- Harvested Forest - Grass/Forb Regeneration Year-round.
- Introduced Upland Vegetation - Annual Grassland Year-round.
- Introduced Upland Vegetation - Forbland Year-round.
- Introduced Upland Vegetation - Perennial Grassland Year-round.
- Introduced Upland Vegetation - Treed Year-round.
- Lower Mississippi River Bottomland Depressions - Forest Modifier Year-round.
- Mississippi River Floodplain and Riparian Forest Year-round.
- Modified/Managed Southern Tall Grassland Year-round.
- Northeastern Interior Dry Oak Forest - Mixed Modifier Year-round.
- Northeastern Interior Dry Oak Forest - Virginia/Pitch Pine Modifier Year-round.
- Northeastern Interior Dry Oak Forest-Hardwood Modifier Year-round.
- Recently Burned Grassland Year-round.
- Recently Burned Shrubland Year-round.
- Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Bay/Gum Modifier Year-round.
- Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Clethra Modifier Year-round.
- Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Nupea Modifier Year-round.
- Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Pine Modifier Year-round.
- Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Taxodium Modifier Year-round.
- Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-(Pine) Forest - Loblolly Pine Modifier Year-round.
- Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-(Pine) Forest - Mixed Modifier Year-round.
- Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-Heath Forest - Mixed Modifier Year-round.
- Southern Ridge and Valley Dry Calcareous Forest - Pine modifier Year-round.
- Tamaulipan Mesquite Upland Scrub Year-round.
- Tamaulipan Riparian Systems Year-round.
- Texas-Louisiana Coastal Prairie Slough Year-round.
- Unconsolidated Shore Year-round.
- Unconsolidated Shore (Lake/River/Pond) Year-round.
- Western Great Plains Floodplain Systems Year-round.
- The final model note corrects forest use to edge habitat rather than forest interior.
Seasons in Virginia
- Year-round: nests here, in all 133 counties and cities.
Food plants
Diet records by plant genus, from studies across North America. Not a record from this state. Plants matched by genus.
Native plants in these genera 24
- Ground JuniperJuniperus communis var. depressa
- Juniperus virginiana var. virginianaJuniperus virginiana var. virginiana
- American Fly-honeysuckleLonicera canadensis
- Coral HoneysuckleLonicera sempervirens
- Limber HoneysuckleLonicera dioica
- Smooth SumacRhus glabra
- Eastern Winged SumacRhus copallinum var. latifolia
- Staghorn SumacRhus typhina
- Fragrant Sumac; Squawbush; Squaw BushRhus aromatica var. aromatica
- Michaux's SumacRhus michauxii
- Climbing RoseRosa setigera
- Swamp RoseRosa palustris
- Virginia RoseRosa virginiana
- Smooth BlackhawViburnum prunifolium
- Nannyberry; Sheepberry; Nanny Berry; Sheep BerryViburnum lentago
- Possumhaw ViburnumViburnum nudum
- Rusty BlackhawViburnum rufidulum
- Smooth Arrow WoodViburnum recognitum
- Southern ArrowwoodViburnum dentatum
- Witherod ViburnumViburnum cassinoides
- Downy ArrowwoodViburnum rafinesqueanum
- HobblebushViburnum lantanoides
- Mapleleaf ViburnumViburnum acerifolium
Plant genera in its diet records (5)
Also found in its main habitats
Its main habitats in Virginia, by how much of its habitat model each one is, with the birds most characteristic of each and the plants that grow wild there. Shared habitat, not food.
Northern Mockingbird uses many habitats in Virginia; these are its 3 most characteristic.
Dry forests and woodlands
Birds 69
- Pine WarblerDendroica pinus
- Red CrossbillLoxia curvirostra
- Brown-headed NuthatchSitta pusilla
- Blackburnian WarblerDendroica fusca
- Brewer's BlackbirdEuphagus cyanocephalus
- Red-breasted NuthatchSitta canadensis
- Blue-headed VireoVireo solitarius
- White-crowned SparrowZonotrichia leucophrys
- White-winged CrossbillLoxia leucoptera
- Yellow-throated WarblerDendroica dominica
- Prairie WarblerDendroica discolor
- Black-throated Blue WarblerDendroica caerulescens
Plants 230
- American ChestnutCastanea dentata
- Eastern Winged SumacRhus copallinum var. latifolia
- Godfrey's ThoroughwortEupatorium godfreyanum
- White ThoroughwortEupatorium album
- Sessileleaf Tick-trefoilDesmodium sessilifolium
- Leavenworth's SedgeCarex leavenworthii
- Southern Whitetinge SedgeCarex albicans var. australis
- Southern LoosestrifeSteironema tonsum
- Carolina LilyLilium michauxii
- Tall BellflowerCampanulastrum americanum
- Bigleaf SnowbellStyrax grandifolius
- Delicate Rabbit-tobaccoPseudognaphalium micradenium
Floodplain and bottomland forests
Birds 87
- Lincoln's SparrowMelospiza lincolnii
- Snowy OwlBubo scandiacus
- Willow FlycatcherEmpidonax traillii
- Brewer's BlackbirdEuphagus cyanocephalus
- Northern WaterthrushSeiurus noveboracensis
- GadwallAnas strepera
- Yellow-throated WarblerDendroica dominica
- Black-throated Blue WarblerDendroica caerulescens
- Glossy IbisPlegadis falcinellus
- Great CormorantPhalacrocorax carbo
- Least BitternIxobrychus exilis
- Louisiana WaterthrushSeiurus motacilla
Plants 381
- Elliott's BlueberryVaccinium elliottii
- Possumhaw HollyIlex decidua
- Cherrybark OakQuercus pagoda
- Appalachian Orange ConeflowerRudbeckia fulgida var. umbrosa
- Shagbark HickoryCarya ovata
- Southern Shagbark HickoryCarya carolinae-septentrionalis
- Spreading SedgeCarex laxiculmis
- Louisiana SedgeCarex louisianica
- Common Cup-plantSilphium perfoliatum
- Smooth Hedge-nettleStachys tenuifolia
- Virginia Cup-plantSilphium connatum
- Coville's PhaceliaPhacelia covillei
Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground
Birds 97
- Cape May WarblerDendroica tigrina
- House SparrowPasser domesticus
- Monk ParakeetMyiopsitta monachus
- Upland SandpiperBartramia longicauda
- DickcisselSpiza americana
- Grasshopper SparrowAmmodramus savannarum
- Hoary RedpollCarduelis hornemanni
- BobolinkDolichonyx oryzivorus
- House FinchCarpodacus mexicanus
- Rock PigeonColumba livia
- Vesper SparrowPooecetes gramineus
- Yellow-throated VireoVireo flavifrons
Plants 1283
- Pussy WillowSalix discolor
- Crooked-stem AsterSymphyotrichum prenanthoides
- Long Stalk AsterSymphyotrichum dumosum var. dumosum
- Canada LettuceLactuca canadensis
- Common HorseweedErigeron canadensis
- Annual FleabaneErigeron annuus
- Hairy FleabaneErigeron bonariensis
- Dog-fennelEupatorium capillifolium
- Carolina Crane's-billGeranium carolinianum
- Common Evening-primroseOenothera biennis
- Cutleaf Evening-primroseOenothera laciniata
- Northern Evening-primroseOenothera parviflora
Sources
- USGS Gap Analysis Project habitat models (2001)
- USGS GAP year-round habitat model for Northern Mockingbird Elevation up to 1,066 m. Avoids forest interior. Includes developed land
- USGS Gap Analysis Project range maps (2001), modeled by watershed; migratory gives no dates
- NatureServe Explorer (CC BY 4.0), habitat names
- US Census TIGER/Line counties
- Names follow the USGS Gap Analysis Project (2001)
- Avian Diet Database (Hurlbert Lab) (CC0 1.0), diet records by plant genus

















































































