Northern Mockingbird on the garden bed mb_BSW9308
this bird landed on my freshly mowed lawn and started this display behavior of raising its wings in a stutter-step fashion. It landed on the garden bed, the mower, the neighbor's house, etc, and repeated this display for several minutes.
From allaboutbirds.org: The Northern Mockingbird frequently gives a "wing flash" display, where it half or fully opens its wings in jerky intermediate steps, showing off the big white patches. No one knows why it does this, but it may startle insects, making them easier to catch. On the other hand, it doesn’t often seem to be successful, and different mockingbird species do this same display even though they don’t have white wing patches.
Backyard, St. Louis, Missouri, USA
Northern Mockingbird on the garden bed mb_BSW9308
this bird landed on my freshly mowed lawn and started this display behavior of raising its wings in a stutter-step fashion. It landed on the garden bed, the mower, the neighbor's house, etc, and repeated this display for several minutes.
From allaboutbirds.org: The Northern Mockingbird frequently gives a "wing flash" display, where it half or fully opens its wings in jerky intermediate steps, showing off the big white patches. No one knows why it does this, but it may startle insects, making them easier to catch. On the other hand, it doesn’t often seem to be successful, and different mockingbird species do this same display even though they don’t have white wing patches.
Backyard, St. Louis, Missouri, USA