The Mockingbird's Madrigal

       I went out on the porch at a quarter to seven this morning, and looking down the block I could see that he was already there.  OR could it possibly be that he was still there since last evening?  I sat on the porch in my new outdoor swivel chair and sure enough, in a moment he was at it again: calling loudly and persistently, sometimes singing out his call. in an urgent voice.  A bird in the throes of love?  Not exactly, something far more poignant -- a bird in the throes of seeking love.
      If you have never seen a performance of the male mockingbird courtship display, believe me, it is something to behold.  He sits on the high branch of a tree or, as in the present case, atop a telephone pole so that he has a panoramic, Vista-Vision view of the neighborhood, and more importantly, he can easily be seen by his audience.  Then, after a series of loud announcements aimed at the lady birds who are out there watching, he miraculously propels himself straight up into the air in a vertical trajectory, as if he were a small jet-propelled rocket, to a height of three feet or more.  Then, mid-air, he performs some acrobatic movements worthy of Cirque de Soleil before descending in a straight vertical plunge to his starting position, landing there on his feet.  He is, in effect, saying with this performance, to female members of the species in the audience:  "Hey!  Look at me!  ain't I someptin?"  He repeats this display over and over again so that the message becomes: "See how persistent I am!  And what stamina, huh? Why, I'm an Olympic athlete!  A good catch! " 

     Frankly, he looks a bit silly when he does this mid-air"loop-dee-loop".  We have no way of knowing if the females also think so, but since mockingbirds are monogamous creatures who mate for life, this is not a matter of mere entertainment, but one of the utmost seriousness.  For in advertising his persistence and stamina, the male is also saying to his audience: "These are the qualities you'll find in me when we have babies to feed." 

     But where, I wonder, is his audience.  I don't see any female mockingbirds anywhere.  There are just a couple of bored mourning doves watching from the porch railing, and those two, I've noticed, will watch anything, like people addicted to watching T.V. even when there's nothing on the screen.  And yet, hour after hour, in this lusty month of June, this male mockingbird wears himself out calling, calling, a bit more plaintively now to my ears, and repeating his acrobatic performances. Will he ever quit?
     My heart has begun to ache for this bird.  To tell you the truth, I've seen better performances:  males that have reached a greater height on the ascent, who did little somersaults during those seconds they were in mid-air and who returned on a dime to their starting position.  This fellow seems to just flutter his wings a bit mid-air and sometimes he even cheats on the descent, flying around the pole before returning to start.  But oh, his persistence!  I'm worn out just watching him.  And lately, I've begun to wonder if I'm his only audience and that -- unwittingly, of course -- his message isn't meant for me.  I don't mean that he is trying to attract me as a mate, but rather that he is giving me a much needed lesson in perseverance.  Because what I hear him telling me is this: "Finding your soul mate is the main priority of this life.  No matter how hard it is, no matter how long it takes you, you have to keep trying.  Don't quit seeking.  DON'T EVER QUIT!!!

Maxine F.

June 2019