And they have very long tails which flit from side to side while they are balancing (or showing off.)

They must have goofy internal clocks because they arrive in JErsey City in FEBRUARY (why?) and stay until Summer.

Ours (Newport) usually start their singing at 4 AM and go for hours and hours.

That upper picture is probably a mockingbird but not exactly ours which are the Northern Mockingbird (mimus poylglottus)...multivoiced mimes, a good name?

The BEST thing to watch for is one high atop a lampost whose songs get more and more excited until he can stand no more and he jumps up and does about a 2 foot backflip landing exactly back where he started. Usually the flip is repeated every 5 minutes or so. No way you can watch it without laughing.

Here's a good match for the ones around here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wQRZO51Y_g

It's a shame though that as every patch of dense wild vegetation is torn up and replaced by a building, there will be fewer and fewer places for these delightful birds to breed.

Mocking birds are crazy! Be careful not to go near their nests, because they will attack you. There was one in VVP last year that built its nest in a low shrub, and was dive bombing all the people and dogs that walked by.
They are easiest to recognize when flying, as they have a white stripe across their wings (only visible when they are open).

I work second shift (3pm-11pm). I hear them all the time. I like to mess with them too.

In the heart of summertime, in Van Vorst Park, these mockingbirds are extremely LOUD in the late night/early morning (like 5-6 am). It's cacaphonous. After a late night out one time, I couldn't believe how loud these things were. It's great fun messing with them, especially with a 5 am buzz :)

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Love dem mockinbirds! I live on 3rd St near Grace Church and on heavily tree-lined block, the trees are full of birds as Ian says, they sing throughout the night often until 4 or 5 am. I also hear them try to imitate car alarms when one goes off, or a fire engine nearby, makes for a wonderful evening knowing our urban birds are happily singing.

Oh they are singing until well passed two or three in the morning in Harsimus Cove

Definitely the mockingbirds. I haven't heard them yet this year, but I typically start hearing them around June. I live right on the park, so I'm their captive audience when they sing, which sometimes last all night.

I like the mockingbirds. They are fun to mess with. If you whistle a short tune or sound, they will imitate you. I've even heard them try to imitate sirens or car alarms.

Yes. I've been hearing it too. I thought it was a person at first. But apparently it's something like this...not that I've ever seen one of these around

Typically, that will be a mockingbird.
They often sing at night in the spring/summer, and usually from a high spot, like a tv antenna, the tip of a tall tree or light pole.
Generally, they'll use a never ending supply of different melodies and calls, sometimes sounding like the songs of other birds. (hence the name "mockingbird"). These calls are often repeated in groups of threes.
Also known as the 'ghetto nightingale'.

For the past week or so, starting round 11 PM, persisting for about 10 to 20 minutes, has anyone else been hearing some very loud bird sounds. I live on Mercer, between Barrow and Grove, and have been wondering if anyone else has heard this bird?