So do I. I always felt that the red-winged blackbird would be a wonderful state bird wherever they occur. But economic powers that be consider them a nuisance.
Politics. Some state legislator had a personal interest in it, and got the bill before the house, and scratched somebody else’s back by co-sponsoring their quirky bill, and it was a done deal. Some states have a state fossil, or a state pie, or a state musical instrument or a state barbed wire.
Texas, mockingbird. They are out there almost every day, mocking me.
I’ve never seen an oriole.
We have a couple of pairs of cardinals around the house. The female of one pair is in constant warfare with our windows.
We also get a ton of purple finches at our bird feeder. We should do a bird exchange program!
Funny I just realized I unconsciously capitalize “Oriole” by default, because the only context I’ve ever seen the word is in relation to the MLB team.
Massachusetts - black capped chickadee are tiny, but I used to see them all the time when I had a bird feeder. The state game bird is the wild turkey. I literally had to stop my car to let one cross the street on my way to work today.
I’ve seen many Orioles. 
I see an oriole every few years. When I see one, I quickly cut up some oranges for them, hoping they’ll stick around a bit. Never works.
I’m not sure how I ended up with all of those quotes in there. I am out of control!
We like the flashiness. We’re easy to please.
Dennis
I think some of the “Official State oddities” are school projects and they petition the governor to declare it. Makes for good political press.
Various states have official dances, snacks, dogs, soft drinks, toys, etc. Maryland has an official state exercise. Walking.
Ohio, sticking with red symbols, has tomato juice as the official beverage. We do grow a lot of tomatoes.
Dennis
Yeah, here in the city, in the Midway area, they’re more of a rare treat. I remember as a kid getting all excited when I’d spot one in the backyard. The more typical dime-a-dozen birds here are in rough order of commonness: sparrows, crows, robins, pigeons, seagulls (yep, they manage to find themselves here five miles in from Lake Michigan attracted to the parking lots of grocery and department stores, it seems.)
Even more exciting is spotting a blue jay. I think I may have seen one or two in the woods in the southwest suburbs, but that’s it.
Interstingly, I see them fairly often. Quite noticable.
I’ve seen Orioles at Camden yards but I grew up in Maryland and never saw an oriole.
I’ve seen them in and near Havre de Grace growing up, and rather more often up the road a bit in New Castle County, DE.
Growing up in Woodridge, I’d see them in the backyard on a semi-regular basis. Often enough to say “ooh, neat” but not “Holy shit, a blue jay!” I’m out by Plainfield now and haven’t seen one in probably a decade if not longer. I actually looked once to see if they were threatened or anything but nope. Just not in my neighborhood these days.
Texas, here. I see mockingbirds every day.
We have blue jays that live in the Japanese maple tree in the front yard. They hang around and eat the cat food we put out for the feral cat that hangs around the house. I’m certain it’s not good for them (the birds), but I can’t really stop them.
Here in Iowa, “the Hawkeye State”, the state bird is of course the…eastern goldfinch. I see them almost never.
Also a Georgian, I see a Brown Thrasher fairly often in my yard. Quail, on the other hand, I can see by looking in my freezer.