This bird features in the title and central metaphor of the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee.
In that novel, mockingbirds are portrayed as innocent and generous, and two of the major characters, Atticus Finch and Miss Maudie, say it is a sin to kill a mockingbird because "they don't do one thing for us but make music for us to enjoy.
They don't eat up people's gardens, don't nest in corncribs, they don't do one thing but sing their hearts out for us."

"Hush, Little Baby" is a traditional lullaby, thought to have been written in the southern United States; its key first lines are, "Hush, little baby, don't say a word, Mama's gonna buy you a mockingbird.
And if that mockingbird don't sing, Mama's gonna buy you a diamond ring."
This in turn inspired the 1963 song by Inez and Charlie Foxx, and a 2004 Eminem rap.

The song of the northern mockingbird inspired many American folk songs of the mid-19th century, such as "Listen to the Mocking Bird".

"Mockin' Bird Hill" is a popular song best known through recordings by Patti Page, Donna Fargo, and by Les Paul and Mary Ford in 1951.

Thomas Jefferson had a pet mockingbird named "Dick".

In the fictional Neighborhood of Make-Believe on Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, one of King Friday's "pets" is a wooden northern mockingbird on a stick, which he refers to by the scientific name Mimus polyglottos.
This bird features in the title and central metaphor of the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee. In that novel, mockingbirds are portrayed as innocent and generous, and two of the major characters, Atticus Finch and Miss Maudie, say it is a sin to kill a mockingbird because "they don't do one thing for us but make music for us to enjoy. They don't eat up people's gardens, don't nest in corncribs, they don't do one thing but sing their hearts out for us."
"Hush, Little Baby" is a traditional lullaby, thought to have been written in the southern United States; its key first lines are, "Hush, little baby, don't say a word, Mama's gonna buy you a mockingbird. And if that mockingbird don't sing, Mama's gonna buy you a diamond ring." This in turn inspired the 1963 song by Inez and Charlie Foxx, and a 2004 Eminem rap.
The song of the northern mockingbird inspired many American folk songs of the mid-19th century, such as "Listen to the Mocking Bird".
"Mockin' Bird Hill" is a popular song best known through recordings by Patti Page, Donna Fargo, and by Les Paul and Mary Ford in 1951.
Thomas Jefferson had a pet mockingbird named "Dick".
In the fictional Neighborhood of Make-Believe on Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, one of King Friday's "pets" is a wooden northern mockingbird on a stick, which he refers to by the scientific name Mimus polyglottos.
Northern mockingbird