On Top of the World II

Did You Know: Tennessee designated the mockingbird (genus Mimus polyglottos) as the official state bird in 1933, selected through an election conducted by the Tennessee Ornithological Society. Mockingbirds have extraordinary vocal abilities - they can sing up to 200 #songs, including their own melodious songs, the songs of other birds, insect and amphibian sounds, even an occasional mechanical noise. The mockingbird is considered one of the finest songbirds in northern America. This mockingbird sits delightfully “On top of the world.”

If you hear an endless string of 10 or 15 different birds singing outside your house, you might have a Northern Mockingbird in your yard. These slender-bodied gray birds apparently pour all their color into their personalities. They sing almost endlessly, even sometimes at night, and they flagrantly harass birds, cats, dogs and even humans that intrude on their territories, flying slowly around them or prancing toward them, legs extended, flaunting their bright white wing patches.

PROVENANCE: 2017-2019 SOLO MUSEUM TOUR “My Tennessee Home: The Paintings of Camille Engel” depicting the Tennessee State Symbols. The Mockingbird is the Tennessee State bird. • Parthenon Museum, Nashville, TN: September 14 – December 31, 2017 • Ellen Noel Art Museum, Odessa, TX: February 22 – May 20, 2018. • Customs House Museum, Clarksville, TN: October 16, 2017 – January 2, 2018