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Mimus
macdonaldi
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- Largest of all of the mockingbirds in Galápagos
- Lives only on Española and Gardner-by-Española, a small adjacent islet
- Maintains territories in all habitats on the islands where it occurs
- Extraordinarily fearless of humans; frequently lands on tourists visiting Punta Suarez site at western tip of Española
- More opportunistic feeding habits than any of the other mockingbirds; known to eat insects, fruit, bird eggs, nestling songbirds, blood, sealion placentas, lizards
- Maintains social groups of up to at least 25 individuals, within which up to 4 pairs breed at separate nests (with occasional joint-nesting)
- Cooperative breeder: non-breeders act as helpers at nests in their group's territory, and some breeders help raise nestlings in nests other than their own
- Social organization and mating system of the Española Mockingbird have been the subjects of research by Ilonka von Lippke (M.S. Villanova, 2001; Ph.D. UCLA, 2008). Publications from this work will appear soon.
Española Mockingbirds feeding on sealion placenta
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