Northern Mockingbirds in Arizona

Northern Mockingbirds live in Arizona all year. Low deserts stay mild and host many wintering sparrows and hummingbirds; the high country gets snow. That makes the cold months the time your yard matters most to them: their winter diet shifts toward holly, hackberry, pokeweed and multiflora fruit.

Hot Sonoran and Mojave deserts in the south and west, with pine-oak sky islands and the Colorado Plateau rising above 7,000 ft.

Across Arizona, mockingbirds typically nest from February–August. Nest site: twig cup in shrubs and small trees 3–10 ft up. Females lay 2–6 eggs, incubate for 12–13 days, and young leave the nest after 12–13 days.

Summer highs above 110°F in Phoenix and Tucson make water the single strongest attractant; the July monsoon triggers a second breeding pulse.

• Northern Mockingbirds don't use nest boxes. Keep dense native shrubs and trees such as smooth sumac, black cherry, american elderberry for nest sites.
• Delay heavy pruning of shrubs until after August.

Of the regional native plants we track for Arizona, these 8 provide food or cover mockingbirds use:

Mockingbirds defend fruiting shrubs from other birds all winter; plant several berry bushes to spread them out.

• Best foods: Suet, Fruit, Mealworms.
• In Arizona's winter: Low deserts stay mild and host many wintering sparrows and hummingbirds; the high country gets snow.

Full diet breakdown for mockingbirds · Best feeder for mockingbirds