Mockingbirds will not use a birdhouse or nesting platform. In their domestic life both parents build the nest. They build flat, bulky nests of twigs and grasses lined with soft moss, hair or fine roots. Usually located 3 to 10 feet off the ground in thickets of woody plants such as their favorite multiflora rose, yew, juniper, holly and pyracantha. Look for them in trees, shrubs or vines, in open woods, shrubby areas and along roadsides, fences and streams. The nest in cactus plants in the desert.
Females lay 4 or 5 eggs beginning in June in the northern part of their range, as early as March in the southernmost areas. Eggs incubate for 12 days. Males sometimes mate with more than one female, and occasionally mate for more than one year. They assist in rearing the young.
Where dependable weather prevails, mockingbirds may nest three times a season, building a new nest with each brood. You can try putting out nesting materials to help them in their construction projects.
