Dick

Dick was Thomas Jefferson's favorite mockingbird — a wild bird who shared the president's study, sang duets with him, and was one of the most beloved pets of the early republic.

Thomas Jefferson loved birds. He was a man of the Enlightenment who believed in the power of nature, and he kept mockingbirds in his study at the White House. One of them, a mockingbird he named Dick, became his particular favorite. Dick was not caged — he was free to fly around Jefferson's private study, and he often perched on the president's shoulder or desk while Jefferson worked.

Jefferson taught Dick to whistle and sing. The two would perform duets together — Jefferson would whistle a tune, and Dick would sing it back. Jefferson wrote about his mockingbirds in letters, describing how they would follow him around the room and respond to his voice. Dick was so well-trained that he would sit on Jefferson's shoulder during meals and eat from his hand.

Dick was more than a pet — he was evidence of Jefferson's deep connection to music and nature. Jefferson was a skilled violinist, and he believed that music was essential to a civilized life. His mockingbirds were a part of that philosophy. He kept them free and untethered, a small piece of the natural world in the formal house of the president.

When Jefferson left the White House in 1809, he brought his mockingbirds with him back to Monticello. Dick lived out his days there, singing in the Virginia hills, a small feathered friend to one of America's greatest thinkers.

Dick — Jefferson's Songbird · uncommon

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