Mockingbirds like to sing, a lot

This mockingbird found a place to perch and rest on a budding branch of a crape myrtle tree in Steve Vinik’s yard in Lexington Oaks, Wesley Chapel. The Northern Mockingbird (state bird of Florida) is common in backyards, but doesn’t often visit feeders. You can encourage mockingbirds to visit your yard by keeping an open lawn and providing fruiting trees or bushes, including mulberries, hawthorns, and blackberry brambles.