# Are You Happy With Your State Bird **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 4, 2009, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-happy-with-your-state-bird/498664 "2009-06-04T05:15:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Civil\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d78d45/32.png) [@Civil\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Civil_Guy)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2009, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-happy-with-your-state-bird/498664/81 "2009-06-05T04:36:37Z")
> [@Darwins\_Finch](#): > > I like how Utah’s state bird is the _California_ gull. …I’m pleased that the roadrunner got it’s name on the books. I’m bemused to learn that its species name is _ **Geococcyx californianus** _. Dudes! We’re taking over! (Isn’t anyone else worried about that?) ---
**Author:** ![Lurking\_Quahog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lurking_quahog/32/21274_2.png) [@Lurking\_Quahog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lurking_Quahog)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2009, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-happy-with-your-state-bird/498664/82 "2009-06-05T18:40:41Z")
Rhode Island Red. How can you bash a bird that provides one of the crucial ingredients for omelets? ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2009, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-happy-with-your-state-bird/498664/83 "2009-06-05T22:49:01Z")
I’m not thrilled with Wisconsin’s Robin -not a bad bird, but not exactly inspiring. I think Whooping Crane, Great Blue Heron, or something else would be better. The State fossil (Trilobite), State dog (American water spaniel), and State rock (Red granite) are better Brian ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2009, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-happy-with-your-state-bird/498664/84 "2009-06-05T23:04:13Z")
Louisiana picked the Brown Pelican which is just about perfect for the state. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2009, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-happy-with-your-state-bird/498664/85 "2009-06-05T23:07:42Z")
> [@Dag\_Otto](#): > > And New Mexico also has a state insect, the [Tarantula Wasp](http://www.desertusa.com/mag01/sep/papr/photos/th_drag.jpg). Now, see, that’s badass. I love tarantula hawks. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2009, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-happy-with-your-state-bird/498664/86 "2009-06-06T01:45:08Z")
> [@AskNott](#): > > … Only one state has a state question, and you know who you are. The question is, “Red or green?”… So what’s the state, and what does that refer to? ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2009, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-happy-with-your-state-bird/498664/87 "2009-06-06T01:56:36Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > So what’s the state, and what does that refer to? New Mexico and chile. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2009, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-happy-with-your-state-bird/498664/88 "2009-06-06T04:30:16Z")
> [@Civil\_Guy](#): > > …I’m pleased that the roadrunner got it’s name on the books. I’m bemused to learn that its species name is _ **Geococcyx californianus** _. Dudes! We’re taking over! > > (Isn’t anyone else worried about that?) Geococcyx? Rock butt? It sounds so much less tasty now. ---
**Author:** ![bink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/439d5e/32.png) [@bink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bink)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2009, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-happy-with-your-state-bird/498664/89 "2009-06-06T15:24:39Z")
I’m in NJ and am pretty happy with ours. I get goldfinches at my feeder and they’re about the nicest birds I get to see on a regular basis. Now our state song situation, that’s shameful. ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2009, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-happy-with-your-state-bird/498664/90 "2009-06-06T16:41:43Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Montana is one of about fifteen states with the Western Meadowlark. Yeah, Oregon’s is the Western Meadowlark too. The WM must have had a hell of a lobbyist back in the day. ---
**Author:** ![Dag\_Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dag\_Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dag_Otto)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2009, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-happy-with-your-state-bird/498664/91 "2009-06-06T21:08:59Z")
> [@Cisco](#): > > Did you listen to the sound at the link I posted? > > Can you find a recording of the quail saying Hoo-ooh-HOO? No. I have Quicktime issues. I’ll look around and see if I can find another recording of the dove. I’ll try to record the quail next time they are calling around my house. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2009, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-happy-with-your-state-bird/498664/92 "2009-06-06T22:16:38Z")
> [@Wile\_E](#): > > Geococcyx? Rock butt? It sounds so much less tasty now. For those who may be interested, it just means ‘ground cuckoo’. The bone is called the coccyx because it looks like a cuckoo’s beak. (Why a cuckoo and not one of the umpteen other birds with a similar beak, I don’t know.) ---
**Author:** ![Tamex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ccd318/32.png) [@Tamex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamex)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2009, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-happy-with-your-state-bird/498664/93 "2009-06-07T01:41:57Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Montana is one of about fifteen states with the Western Meadowlark. Personally, though, I think it should be the magpie: Those are all over the place around here, and nobody else has claimed them. > > Eh, our state quarter wasn’t as original as it should have been, either. I agree. I saw so many magpies when I was there last week! I don’t remember seeing so many when I lived there 20 years ago, but it could just be that I didn’t notice birds so much until I married a man who was interested in them. ---
**Author:** ![calm\_kiwi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc348/32.png) [@calm\_kiwi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/calm_kiwi)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2009, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-happy-with-your-state-bird/498664/94 "2009-06-07T11:46:15Z")
> [@Markxxx](#): > > (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.” Am I happy with our National bird? Hmmmm. We have cooler birds like the Kea (the world’s only alpine parrot and possibly the world’s most intelligent bird), more common birds like the Tui (whose voice is incredible) and rarer birds like the Kakapo (less then 200 of these flightless parrots exist), yet the Kiwi is our National bird. But it’s not about the bird so much. It’s our identity. The shy, long beaked, nocturnal bird that most NZer’s have only seen in captivity was the origin. I’m not sure why and it doesn’t really matter anymore. New Zealanders are Kiwis. Kiwi are birds that have many unique characteristics. Kiwifruit are a fruit that should never be called kiwi. The unique silhouette of the Kiwi means New Zealand. Am I happy with my national bird? Yes. (except when Americans insist on calling that fuzzy brown fruit a kiwi!.) A simple lesson. A grape is not the same thing as a grapefruit. A Kiwi is not the samething as a kiwifruit! We get to decide, we invented the name! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![FlyingRamenMonster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@FlyingRamenMonster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlyingRamenMonster)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2009, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-happy-with-your-state-bird/498664/95 "2009-06-07T15:19:24Z")
I live in Western Australia and our state bird is the [black swan](http://image51.webshots.com/151/8/38/36/424183836EMSFxm_fs.jpg). They’re pretty badass and only native to our corner of the continent, so they’re cool AND appropriate. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2009, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-happy-with-your-state-bird/498664/96 "2009-06-07T22:15:42Z")
I’m happy with it. I know my state is large enough that the state bird isn’t going to be something that’s dominant everywhere in the state. Funnily enough, I see a lot more cardinals here. ---
**Author:** ![Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aji_de_gallina/32/260_2.png) [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aji_de_Gallina)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2009, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-happy-with-your-state-bird/498664/97 "2009-06-08T02:24:30Z")
Peru’s official bird is the Cok-of-the-rock (can you get a manlier name?) , OK. Unofficially it’s the Andean condor, kickass. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-happy-with-your-state-bird/498664.md?page=4)