Well, no accounting for odd things happening in some corners of the country. Our pack trains were evenly split male/female mules, as one would expect due to biology. Mule Days in California is coming up soon Memorial Day weekend and I go most years. Here's some pics.
These nice beefy (obvious) boys are owned by the DOD's Mountain Warfare unit.
And this elegant boy got the best English riding mule a couple years back.
Anyway, about your bird. I am more convinced that @sourland is right and you are seeing an oriole. In some oriole species, the females look very much like a mockingbird except for the color. Here's a couple examples, though there are other oriole species it could be.
The bird POSSIBLY could be a xanthochromic mockingbird, though I don't recall one being recorded before. It would likely be more yellow than orange, though. Cardinals are sometimes xanthochromic.
These nice beefy (obvious) boys are owned by the DOD's Mountain Warfare unit.
And this elegant boy got the best English riding mule a couple years back.
Anyway, about your bird. I am more convinced that @sourland is right and you are seeing an oriole. In some oriole species, the females look very much like a mockingbird except for the color. Here's a couple examples, though there are other oriole species it could be.
The bird POSSIBLY could be a xanthochromic mockingbird, though I don't recall one being recorded before. It would likely be more yellow than orange, though. Cardinals are sometimes xanthochromic.
