How often do you see your state bird?

[Dallas_Jones]

@Chefguy

Me either. Oughta be the chickadee or the junco as we see those all the damn time.

Now called the Dark Eyed Junco, it used to be referred to as the Oregon Junco. That should be the state bird.

I have never in 60 years even seen a Western Meadow Lark.

[pulykamell]

@Jophiel

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.

Oh, and parts of Chicago are known for their parakeets. If you’re from the area, you may know what I’m talking about. Typically around the Hyde Park/Washington Park area. For those who aren’t, introducing the Chicago monk parakeets. I haven’t seen one in awhile, but when I was regularly in the University of Chicago area, I’d spot one every so often.

[Kimballkid]

I see the Chinese Ring-Necked Pheasant pretty often. Usually running across the highway on the way to work or dead on the highway because they just weren’t fast enough.

[kayaker]

Kennywood’s open.

What do you say when someone’s zipper is down?

[zimaane]

Mine is the Baltimore Oriole. I see them maybe once a year or so.

[Senegoid]

@teela_brown

Us, too. Do you ever see any of the little [California Quail] chicks? They look like earthbound bumblebees.

Yeah, I lived for 10 years in a rural area with them all around. There were low ground-cover type plants growing wild all over the place with tiny red berries they could eat. I used to see Mama Quails running around with all their little bumblechicks chasing after them.

[gigi]

@kayaker

Kennywood’s open.

What do you say when someone’s zipper is down?

“OK, now I’ve seen a purple finch!”?

[LSLGuy]

Hard to believe we got this far with nobody posting a link to the list: List of U.S. state birds - Wikipedia

How Florida ended up with the Northern Mockingbird is a mystery to me. Whatever bird we have, it oughta be the Southern Somethingorother, not Northern.

I don’t know that I’ve ever seen one.

[Shagnasty]

@LSLGuy

How Florida ended up with the Northern Mockingbird is a mystery to me. Whatever bird we have, it oughta be the Southern Somethingorother, not Northern.

Maybe the Cubans did it. I still think it should be the elusive Winged Alligator.

Also, why didn’t anyone pick a crow or raven? They are ridiculously smart but maybe no state thought that they were worthy.

[Tamerlane]

@LSLGuy

How Florida ended up with the Northern Mockingbird is a mystery to me. Whatever bird we have, it oughta be the Southern Somethingorother, not Northern.

If you ever have a bachelor male in your backyard you’d probably soon grow to loath them :D. They love singing at 3 in the morning. It’s northern insomuch as it is the only “typical mockingbird” in North America - the other nine species in the genus are all in Central/South America.

They’re kinda neat birds, but since it is found in essentially every state in the U.S. it doesn’t really make for the best state bird IMHO. Should be this this guy in Florida.

[boytyperanma]

Massachusetts. I see turkeys at least once a week. Black capped chickadees are fairly common but they are small and don’t stand out to me with all the other little birds.

[Dag_Otto]

Roadrunners. I see them a couple of times a week. Sometimes in my yard. Once in my driveway killing a snake.

For a while we fed them, thinking that it would be nice to have them kill snakes. But then without the snakes, the rats took up residence in our prickly pears, and later under the hood of my car where they chewed up wires. So then I had to go on a rat killing rampage. This circle of life thing is hard to control.

Speaking of which, we have a family of three bobcats living nearby. Our house cat seems to know where he stands in the predator/prey lineup, and doesn’t seem too happy about it.

[Jophiel]

@Jophiel

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.

So, of course, driving into work today I see a blue jay just sitting by the side of the road. Had I known it was that easy to summon them…

[LSLGuy]

@Tamerlane

If you ever have a bachelor male in your backyard you’d probably soon grow to loath them :D. They love singing at 3 in the morning. It’s northern insomuch as it is the only “typical mockingbird” in North America - the other nine species in the genus are all in Central/South America.

They’re kinda neat birds, but since it is found in essentially every state in the U.S. it doesn’t really make for the best state bird IMHO. Should be this this guy in Florida.

Thank you.

If it was up to me it’d be the Brown pelican - Wikipedia. Yet another bird with a range far wider than one state or even country. But common here and with iconic status.

[AngelSoft]

@Arrendajo

I don’t ever remember seeing or hearing a western meadowlark here in the Willamette Valley, though it’s likely I’m just missing them, since I live in a pretty woodsy area. I used to hear them and see them all the time when I lived in far eastern Ontario, Oregon. We always said they sang “Idaho is a hell of a place to live.” It’s a great little descending bubbling brook of a song.
The birds I enjoy most close to home are Steller’s Jays. My neighborhood also has great flocks of wild turkeys, and they are really impressive birds. The other day I saw three turkeys chasing each other in a circle around and around and around a rhododendron.

Another Willamette Valley-er here lol And I’ve also never seen one. I agree, lots of Stellar and Scrub Jays and Juncos. I did hear something on the news though that there’s a movement to change our state bird because numerous states have the Western Meadowlark. If I remember correctly, the suggested change was the Osprey.

[GuanoLad]

The helmeted honey-eater? I’ve never seen one. Nor heard of it before today.

[Lurking_Quahog]

@TriPolar

Almost daily. My neighbors have free range Rhode Island Reds.

Not daily, but some friends of mine keep laying hens. I’ll see a Rhode Island Red at least once every few weeks.

[TriPolar]

@Lurking_Quahog

Not daily, but some friends of mine keep laying hens. I’ll see a Rhode Island Red at least once every few weeks.

I wonder if any other state bird is not one found in the wild.

Also, I wish Massachusetts would keep their state turkeys out of our state. Those things are annoying. The chickens certainly don’t like them.

[wonky]

@TriPolar

Also, I wish Massachusetts would keep their state turkeys out of our state.

No one can control Scott Brown!

[Amateur_Barbarian]

One more for robins, and I love the damn things. Out west, a robin is a little puffy wren with a rusty chest. Here, they’re big, brassy, bright-chested lords of their dominion (== their 100 square feet of my lawn). Seeing the first robin has truly become the marker of spring for me.