Here’s a list of State Birds. Are you happy with your state bird? Do you think it represents your state well?
I live in Illinois and I think the cardinal is a poor choice. I think I’ve seen maybe 10 cardinals in my entire life. I realize Illinois is big and maybe they all live downstate but everywhere in Illinois I see, blackbirds, robins, wrens, grackles and I even see more Canada Geese than cardinals.
(If you don’t live in the USA but your country has a “national bird,” like NZ has the Kiwi or Australia has the Emu. Feel free to substitute that bird for your “state bird.”
No, the California Quail is stupid, muddy color and hiding in the brush.
My original one was Michigan’s American Robin - now that’s a bird you can use as a school mascot.
I did always envy Maryland’s Baltimore Oriole, my second favorite in the Birds Of The World Stamp Book, after the red-winged blackbird.
Cactus Wren? Original, geographically appropriate, visually appealing, and only true Arizonans get to see them often. (by that I mean the ones that go on hikes in the mountains and deserts or just live out there anyhow.)
I’m okay with the California Quail, but the South Dakota state bird is just retarded, insomuch as it isn’t even native to the United States ( or the Americas generally ). I get why Utah celebrates the California Gull, but the name still triggers a serious disconnect. And while the Blue Hen of Delaware and Rhode Island Red sound respectably homegrown, chickens generally have the same issue as South Dakota’s pheasants - they’re native to Asia. Meanwhile everyone who duplicates a state bird sucks by definition ;).
Personally I might give New Mexico top prize for the Roadrunner. Roadrunners are hecka cool in my ( oh, so nerdy ) book. But there are a number of strong contenders.
I think that the mockingbird represents the middle and western parts of the state of Tennessee rather well, but I have yet to see one east of the Cumberland Plateau.
Well, I didn’t live here when they picked the mocker, but yes it is a bit disappointing. Sure mockers are entertaining but we have so many unique birds here and they go and pick the most common one everywhere. I think ours should be the Flamingo. If you can’t find a live one you can probably at least find a plastic one on someone’s lawn. Or the Everglades Kite but then we’d probably have to try harder to keep it from going extinct.
Yeah, yeah, Mr. Super-Genius, tell us all about it :p.
This youngster was down in Anza-Borrego on the same trip I saw the Cactus Wrens. One of my favorite little wildlife encounters was watching a mother roadrunner in the parking lot of the AB Borrego Palm Canyon visitor center leaping several feet in the air to snag butterflies ( out of a fluttering cloud of Pierids ) for about twenty minutes, to feed her half-grown babies begging around her feet.
NSW has its own state bird: the kookaburra. I suppose it’s appropriate. They’re certainly plentiful in my suburb. Noisy too, which may also be appropriate for NSW.
Central Illinois here, and we have cardinals in every other bush/tree/shrub you can imagine. Our yard alone probably has four nesting pairs. They’re bright, cheeky, and one of the first in the spring to start calling to mates. Better than the turkey vultures that are hulking in the back pasture.
Our state bird is the one bird we have here that I hate because of how obnoxious they are. I currently have one that has been tearing up the garden something fierce. As in pecking out holes up to 2 inches deep and wide making it look like somebody scatter shot a shot gun across the garden everyday… They are the only bird that immediately comes to the freshly filled birdbath and shits in the water, so all the water is fouled.The bird is a shit machine and only the larger birds like geese are worse for fouling every inch of the yard. The robin is a horrible bird. I wish the hawks and the eagle would take them out instead of the slow ground doves.
I am not thrilled. Sure, I have no problem with the Eastern Bluebird per se, but it was lame for NY to go with him when he was already the state bird of Missouri. However, I don’t know a lot about birds so I don’t have an alternative suggestion.
Man, the Western meadowlark is a slut! As a former Oregonian, I am not pleased. As a current Californian, I’m okay with quail, because they are delicious. Also, Utah’s state bird is totally our bitch.
Florida has the Mockingbird-while I love the melodic pugnacious little buggers, the Wood Stork would be a much more appropriate choice (as most of its range is in Florida, as opposed to the Mocker who ranges across dozens of states). Likewise the Kirkland’s Warbler should be Michigan’s, the only place in the universe where they nest, unlike the Robin which again nests everywhere.
(by that I mean the ones that go on hikes in the mountains and deserts or just live out there anyhow.)