People see mockingbirds chasing people and animals around and think these birds are fearless. Really, though, they’re just territorial jerks. Downy woodpeckers are the real fearless birds.
Some really common birds are very skittish. I just can’t get a good photo of a mourning dove from my porch because they fly off at the slightest sound. Not downy woodpeckers.
I don’t have the greatest camera equipment in the world, but these birds make it easy to get high quality photos of because I can get closer to these birds than any others. Normally I’m maxing out my zoom to get a photo, but in this case, I was only about six feet away — I actually had to zoom out to frame the shot.