Texas designated the mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos) as official state bird in 1927. Northern Mockingbirds have extraordinary vocal abilities - they can sing up to 200 songs, including the songs of other birds, insect and amphibian sounds, even an occasional mechanical noise. The northern mockingbird is also the state bird of Florida, Arkansas, Tennessee and Mississippi.
Mockingbid singing video courtesy of BirdCinema.com
The Texas legislature noted that the mockingbird:
"...is found in all parts of the State, in winter and
in summer, in the city and in the country, on the prairie and in the woods and hills...is a singer of distinctive type, a fighter for the protection of his home, falling, if need be, in its defense, like any true Texan..."
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